Nightmares Come True
by Sergeant K-BAR
Summary: Shepard and crew encounter a new threat while preparing to deal with the Reapers. Male Shepard, Voting allowed when prompted. Chapters longer than prologue. Finished, if you like it, read the sequel. Retcon of Battle of High Charity now in full effect.
1. Prologue

**_Citadel, Zakera Ward, 2186_**

The sounds of club music and gang violence filled the air as Mikhail and his partner, a Turian by the name of Palus, patrolled the streets of Zakera Ward, ever vigilant in their sweep. Mikhail looked around, taking note of any suspicious activity while Palus, in his usual way, kept his predatory eyes open for the suspects. Mikhail sighed as the pursuit continued, seeming to drag on. "Palus, why the hell are we out here?" Mikhail asked, breaking the long silence. Palus paused, and then took a few seconds to answer.

"I don't know, Mikhail, but something's not sitting right with me. What's that expression of yours?" Palus replied, still sweeping his head from side to side, never once breaking his sweep. Mikhail sighed, three hours of searching, and he didn't even know why. All the higher ups said was that they needed to investigate.

"Instincts kicking in again, Palus?" Mikhail asked. Palus nodded, motioning toward an alleyway.

"Saw two armored humanoids going down that alley. Looks good enough to warrant investigating." Palus said in a hushed tone. Mikhail nodded, checking the temperature gauge on his pistol. _She's still good_, Mikhail thought. He took point while Palus loaded new heat sinks into his rifle, and then proceeded to follow Mikhail up to the alley.

As they drew near, Mikhail clicked on his combat visor, with a tactical readout soon entering his vision. Palus followed suit, linking his visor's system with Mikhail's. After reaching the alley way, both sprang out from around their corners.

"C-Sec! Everyone on the ground, now!" Palus yelled, raising his rifle into the firing position. Before either could react, two hulking gray forms ignited their blades, and rushed forward.

"Holy SHIT!" Mikhail yelled, firing two shots before catching the end of a plasma sword.

"Mikhail!" Palus shouted, rolling out of the alley to avoid the blades. "This is Officer Palus Kurik of Zakera Ward 2nd Precinct. I need back-up! Repeat, need back-up! The shit's really hit the fan here!" Palus yelled, his voice echoing across C-Sec's Emergency Broadcast Frequency. Palus took another look at his attackers, two large reptilian creatures wearing strange, intricate armor of a very proud appearance. They wielded blades of pure energy. Their attention turned to Palus, as he fired two more bursts before ducking behind cover. Palus threw a grenade, then started yelling again. "Encountered unknown hostiles. Repeat, unknown hostiles are on the Citadel. Please Respo-AAAAAGGHH!" Palus yelled as the large creature pulled him up from behind his cover.

The creature snarled before impaling Palus. After tossing him aside, the creature grabbed Palus' radio, and growled into it. "We are the Covenant. You will relinquish control of this Relic to the Prophet of Mercy. Resist, and you will all perish."


	2. The Call

_**Cerberus Cruiser, Terminus Systems**_

_Intercepted Radio Transmission: Begin Playback_

"Unknown *crackle* Hostile's on the Citadel *static* Re*crackle*t, Unknown Hostiles on the Citadel. Please Respo-*static*AAGH!"

_End Playback._

The Illusive Man played the message a couple more times before pulling up his communications display. "Get me Shepard. NOW!" he ordered, lighting a new cigar in the process. "You'll wanna see this, Commander." He mumbled to himself, taking a large puff from his newly lit antique Cuban. His radio clicked on as the communications officer's voice rang across the room.

"Sir, the Normandy's out of com range." the com. officer said. The Illusive Man furrowed his brow.

As he slammed an angered hand on his comm panel, he yelled, "Then get me to a damn comm buoy. I don't care about the risks, this gets to Shepard. Understand?"

_**SSV Normandy SR-2, Terminus Systems**_

The Commander woke up to EDI's version of an alarm clock.

"Commander Shepard, the Illusive Man wishes to speak with you." The A.I.'s digital voice rang out across the room. Shepard got up, pulling his jumpsuit on, and then made his way to the elevator.

"This better be good." he said, hating being waken up so early. After the elevator brought him down to the CIC, Shepard made his way to the comm room. After going through the normal procedure, the Illusive Man's holographic form appeared before Shepard.

"Ah, John, it's good to see you." the Illusive Man said, lifting his cigar from his ash-tray. "I've got something you may want to look into." he continued, pulling up a few holo-screens before enabling an audio file. Shepard's countenance changed as the recording played. "I thought you'd like that." the Illusive Man said, voice laden with sarcasm.

Shepard replied with an unamused scowl. "What's this about, Illusive Man?" Shepard said, anger bleeding into his tone.

"Trouble on the Citadel. I'd like you to investigate." he replied, a smirk spreading across his face. Shepard rolled his eyes and disconnected the comm.

"Joker, take us to the Citadel, we've got work." Shepard ordered over his radio. As he reached the CIC, Shepard pulled up the PA display. "This is Commander Shepard. All squad members report to the comm room. We have something to discuss. That is all."

After reviewing their course, Shepard made his way to the comm room with the rest of his squad. A wave of questions greeted him upon entry.

"Quiet. I'll explain in the briefing." Shepard ordered, his voice heavy with urgency. Pulling up all the information the Illusive Man sent him, Shepard began the mission brief. "Yesterday, at approximately 02:00 hours Galactic Standard Time, Cerberus intercepted this emergency broadcast from C-Sec." he explained, pulling up the audio file on the hologram display.

"This is what they heard." Shepard continued, enabling the audio playback. The expressions of the crew varied from confusion, to shock, to intense anger. Shepard glanced around the room before continuing.

"We don't know how they got on the Citadel, but we do know that they're intent on taking it over. The Illusive Man wants us to investigate, and for once, I agree with him." Shepard finished. He took another look around the room, taking in the expression of each of his squad members, his siblings-in-arms, his friends.

"Commander, we are approaching the Citadel." Joker chimed in over the intercom. Shepard nodded, and left the room to gather his weapons and armor.

"I guess that means we're dismissed." Garrus said, the turian equivalent of a smirk appearing on his face.


	3. Heresy and Love

_**Triumphant Vindicator, Unknown Region**_

The Prophet of Mercy shook his head in disgust.

"Two years of searching, and those reviled Sangheili soldiers can't even send me a report?" he yelled, pounding his fist on the arm of his hover-chair. Mercy looked at his Honor Guard, scowling with distate at their proud, statue-likee demeanor. Without any further hesitation, the aged San'Shyuum retreated to his private study, angry and heavily dissatisfied with the overall lack of progress. As he entered his study, he opened his communicator to summon the Ship Master.

"Rylus Thal'Vedumee, I request your presence, at once!" the Prophet demanded. After waiting several minutes, the regal form of the Sangheili Ship Master appeared in the Prophet's observation area.

"What is it you desire, most noble Prophet of Mercy?" Rylus said in greeting, kneeling before the Prophet of Mercy's presence.

"I desire to know why nothing has been found. Why has there been no progress made in regard to _these_?" the Prophet yelled, pointing at a hologram of an ancient and very strange object that resembled a squid.

"Most noble Prophet I-" Rylus was cut off suddenly.

"Spare me the pleasantries, fool. I know that you are hiding something." Mercy said, his temper rising with each syllable.

"Mercy, I know only what my scouts tell me, and they tell me that these Relics-" Rylus was cut off again.

"They are not Relics, you fool. The Luminary tells us of all Relics, and these are not Relics." Mercy roared, angered by the Ship Masters apparent ignorance.

"Then what are they, Mercy? By the gods, Prophet, WHAT ARE THEY ?" Rylus roared back, raising himself from the floor. He shook with anger as he continued to stand, awaiting the Prophet's reply.

"I do not know, Ship Master. I do not know." Mercy said calmly, trace amounts of curiousity and confusion in his voice. "But what I do know is that they are not Relics. These are not the devices of our gods. The Luminary would-" at this point the Prophet was cutt off.

"The Luminary can not be relied on to answer these questions. That device has lead us to mistakes before, and the blasted machine can not always be relied on." Rylus roared, angry at the Prophet's blind devotion to a machine. _Typical San'Shyuum_, he thought to himself, _Always relying on machines and never on your minds_.

The Prophet of Mercy stared back at the Ship Master with eyes full of disgust. "Fool, how dare you mock the wisdom of the Luminary-" Mercy was again interrupted.

"THE LUMINARY IS A MACHINE! You are a fool to let its mechanical judgement corrupt your own." The Ship Master roared his throat now soar from the intensity of the argument.

At that precise moment, The Prophet of Mercy lost his temper. "HERETIC! How dare you accuse my judgement. Lest ye have evidence to prove contrary, you'll die for your treachery!" Mercy shouted, his Honor Guard grabbing the Ship Master by the arms, binding him with the Covenant equivalent of handcuffs.

"Ship Master Rylus Thal'Vedamee, you are hereby placed under arrest and shall await trial. May the Gods have mercy on your soul." One of the Guardsmen yelled, slamming the Ship Master into the ground.

"We will all burn for your ignorance, Prophet of Mercy." Rylus shouted as the Honor Guard dragged him off to the ship's holding cells.

"Appoint a new Ship Master for the time being," Mercy ordered, "and forward any scouting reports to me." The Prophet then retreated back into his study, pondering the Sangheili's words. "You may be onto something, Rylus. But what that is has yet to be decided." The Prophet of Mercy reflected, drifting toward his library, searching it for books of wisdom and guidance.

_**Citadel Presidium, C-Sec Executor's Office**_

Commander Shepard walked into the Executor's Office expecting a warm welcome. What he found was all to the contrary. "I do not care about your damned Spectre status, I want you out of my office, now!" Executor Vakarian yelled, angered by the Spectre's presence.

"Calm down." Shepard said plainly, accompanying his statement with an appropriate hand gesture.

"Why should I? It's bad enough I've lost three patrols to unknown attacks since last month. Now I've got a Spectre, one of the Councils biggest mistakes, standig in my office like he owns the whole damn Citadel. Why should I calm down?" the Executor ranted, still incredibly angered by the Commander's presence. "And you, Garrus, you should be asha-" he was cut off at that moment.

"Shut your mandibles, father. Now I know you don't like the Spectres, but would you shut up and listen for just one minute, you intolerant-" Shepard interrupted this time.

"Girls, girls you're both pretty. Now can we stop fighting and make some god damn progress?" Shepard shouted, causing both Turians to quietly sit back down.

"Alright, Spectre. As you already know, our last patrol was attacked by two unknown hostile organics. We were able to find video feed from one of Zakera Ward's Streetside surveillance cameras. I'll send you a copy later." Ex. Vakarian said, still sounding a little hot-under-the-collar. He pulled up a still image on a holo-projector. "These are the hostiles," the elder Vakarian said, highliting the two hulking reptilians in the image.

"Their weapons and armor don't match anything in C-Sec's database." He explained. Shepard nodded, transfering the images to his omni-tool.

"So, yet another sasquatch hunt." Shepard mused while studying the unkown aliens.

"A what?" both Vakarians said in unison.

"Sasquatch hunt. You look for something that you know is there, but you don't really know what it is." Shepard explained. "It's an old Earth legend. We've still got people looking for it even in this day and age." Shepard continued, noting the looks of confusion slowly dissapearing from both turians faces.

"Like the Vahs'Talos." The elder Vakarian said, making Shepard raise an eyebrow. Shifting his focus back to the task at hand, Shepard asked, "Do we have any leads?"

Executor Vakarian shook his head. "Just the surviving officer, and he's in ICU."

Shepard furrowed his brow. Standing up, he looked out the door. "Then I guess we do things the hard way." He said, marching out the door with Garrus in tow.

_**Normandy SR-2, Citadel Docking Bay**_

Shepard sighed as he sat in his room, reviewing the images again. "What are you?" he asked himself as he scanned the images for clues.

"John, you've been looking over those pictures for hours." Tali said, wrapping her arms around Shepard's shoulders, "And you haven't even offered me dinner yet." She joked, resting her chin on the Commander's left shoulder.

"I know, Tali, I know, but there has to be something in these vids that I can use." He said, frustration working its way into his tone. "Besides, shouldn't you be getting back into your suit?"

"Look, Shepard, you need to relax, chill out, and give your girl some attention." Tali whispered, playfully tugging at Shepard's arm. "And besides, you know Mordin worked up that little _present _for me three months ago." Tali said, a suggestive laugh escaping her lips. It was nice for her to be able to unwind, especially since her bio-suit was beoming less and less necessary. She also like being ablee to de-polarise her visor, a trick Shepard and crew gladly helped her with. Her bright purple eyes flashed affectionately at Shepard, a move that normally made him melt like butter.

"Okay, you win." The Commander said as he spun his chair around. "So, what do you want for dinner?" he asked.

"Now that's more like it." Tali said triumphantly as she pulled her biosuit on, slowly zipping it up in a teasing manner. "I'll meet you downstairs, John." She called as she strutted into the elevator, her suits environmental seals locking with a hiss.

"Boy, do I know how to pick 'em." Commander John Shepard said quietly as he changed into his streetclothes, wanting a slight change of pace for the day. Before he left his room, however, he returned to his computer.

"Better send this now, before I forget." he said, clicking the send button on the vid-mail.

"Happy birthday, Thane. Hope you enjoy it."


	4. The Firefight

_**Citadel, Zakera Ward, 2150 Hrs (GST)**_

Shepard walked casually through the alleyways of Zakera Ward. He had alrady taken Tali out to dinner, and had Mordin escort her back to the Normandy. After that, Shepard browsed the local comm traffic looking for leads. After a feew hours of searching, he found one. Missing persons from the lower end of Zakera ward. Leaving the local C-Sec office, Shepard called in his squad from the Normandy. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, they finally arrived.

Zaeed stepped out of the cab first, handing Shepard a case. "Here's your gear, Commander." he said dryly. With an affirming nod, Shepard proceeded into the cab, changing into his armor and checking his weapons. Satisfied, Shepard stepped out of the cab and headed off in the direction of the report.

Zaeed and Legion followed the Commander at a steady pace, all eyes vigilantly searching for their targets, the unknown hostiles. Shepard listened to the recording from Executor Vakarian's office. "Zaeed, notice anything suspicious?" Shepard asked, looking back at the aged mercenary. Zaeed met his gaze with a smirk. He was glad to finally have a chance at some action. Shaking his head, Zaeed

"No sir. A bit quiet, though." Zaeed said in a hushed tone, sweeping his head around to soak in their surroundings. Legion's "eye" darted randomly, as if trying to surpass Zaeed's method. Shepard returned his gaze forward, catching a glimpse of two figures passing behind a planter. Shepard could plainly see them through the leaves. However, he never saw them emerge from the other side.

"Check your weapons. Something's not right." Shepard said, thankful he was wearing his Kestrel Armor. Two lights flickered green on his HUD, signaling an "affirmative" from Zaeed and Legion. Shepard signaled Legion to move up to a supervisor's booth, a decent vantage point in case things got ugly. Zaeed pulled out his Revenant LMG and put himself on a ledge behind a large container. Shepard pulled out his shotgun, the M-22 Eviscerator, and checked the heat gauge. _Heat Level: Minimal_, flashed across the display. Keeping the shotgun in a semi-ready position, Commander Shepard approached the planter.

"Shepard, I don't like this." Zaeed said, voice electronically distorted by his comm.

"Noted. Keep weapons at ready." Shepard replied, seeing the lights on his HUD blink green in agreement. Legion boosted his sensors in an effort to detect the unknowns through their stealth systems. It worked.

"Commander, We detect multiple anomalous energy signatures, similar to stealth fields, in the vicinity. Also, power readings similar to amplified shielding have also been detected." Legion chimed, his robotic voice chilling in the still air of Zakera Ward.

Suddenly, the Commander saw a shimmer move across his field of vision, and a blinking red light flashed on his HUD. Instinctively raising his shotgun, Shepard called out to his squad, "Open Fire!"

Zaeed didn't have to be told twice. As one of Legion's sniper rounds impacted the hostile's kinetic barriers, he opened fire on the rapidly de-cloaking creature. The hostile's shields flashed brightly before disappearing, leaving nothing between Zaeed's rounds and the creature's armor. With the sound of mass accelerator rounds hitting metallic armor filling the air, the first of the hostiles flashed fully into view. A truly terrifying creature, almost as large as a Krogan, if not larger. The warrior had large, predatory yes, a hulking body mass and musculature, and an air of pride. This creature was an elite soldier. The best of the best. A worthy opponent. Zaeed smiled as the crature came closer. Cycling the heat sink in his weapon, Zaeed decided that now was the time. He activated his Armor Piercing rounds.

Zaeed roared triumphantly as the first warrior fell to the ground, clutching its chest-piece. The other warriorignited a blade of pure energy and came charging at Zaeed like an angered bull. Shepard turned, pumping two blasts into the creature's shields, the second blast impacting directly on its armor. Legion fired another shot from its Widow Anti-Material Rifle, punching a bowling ball-sized hole in the hostile. The hulking creature staggered and fell forward, making a dull _thud _as it hit the ground. Heavy breathing emanated from the other warrior as it attempted to raise itself from the ground. Zaeed deliverd a swift kick to the side of its head, sending it sprawling out across the alley. Legion descended from its vantage point and proceeded to scan the two creatures.

"Genetic composition unknown, although similiar to earth saurian species." Legion stated, its "face" contorting into an unknown expression. Shepard looked back at the two creatures, analyzing them in his own way. He walked over to the barely conscious one, noting the intricacies and overall proud look of its armor.

"What are you?" he muttered, a sliver of himself wanting an answer. The alien exhaled loudly, almost sounding like speech. _Sangheili_, is what the noise sounded like. "Sangheili?" Shepard said, crouching to look into the aliens eyes. The large unknown saurian coughed twice before making an actual, bona fide reply.

"Yes, defiler, Sangheili. And we will destroy your kind." it said, zealous hatred consuming its voice. Shepard shook his head. _So, that's how it is?_, he thought. Standing up, Shepard fireda burst from his Locust SMG into the back of its head. "That ones for us." he said, putting the SMG back onto its magnetic holster. "Come on boys, let's get these back to the ship." Shepard ordered, kicking the dead warrior in its side.

"Commander, Wedetect more anomalous signatures." Legion stated, shifting to his Geth pulse rifle. Shepard sighed, cycling the heat sinks in his Locust.

"Defensive positions." hecalled out, sliding around a corner. Hechecked his squads vitals. _All Green_, he thought. Legion's sensors picked up movement on their left flank. Motioning to Shepard, the robot threw two disk grenades into a side alleyway.

"Traps,Legion's voice rang through Shepard's comm, making the Commander nod in agreement. Zaeed nodded at Shepard, motioning for a bull-rush attack. A full frontal assault would normally be suicide, but with Shepard, impossible was a daily acquaintance. Shepard's affirm light flashed on Zaeed's HUD as he cycled his heat-sinks. They waited for the booms.

"For the Prophets!" one of the Sangheili warriors cried, de-cloaking as he sprinted around the corner. _3...2...1..._, Shepard counted down mentally. At the third red flash on its motion tracker, Legion thumbed the detonator.

Kaboom.

Zaeed and Shepard both lunged out from behind their cover, firing large bursts into the oncoming warriors. "Come on, you split-jawed bastards!" Zaeed roared over the machine gun fire. Shepard fired five round bursts into the crowd as they returned fire. Plasma bolts flew past the both of them, melting the metal walls of the alley behind them. "DEW's! Fall back! Fall BACK!" Shepard yelled, back-pedalling into a side-alley. Zaeed and Legion followed.

Legion climbed onto a container, a plasma bolt flying right threw the iconic hole in his chest. "Returning fire!" Legion yelled, his pulse rounds ripping holes in the Sangheili's shields. Two more grenade explosions rocked the alley before leaving one warrior left standing. "My people...will be...AVENGED!" the Sangheili roared as he charged Shepard's position, arming two plasma grenades in a kamikaze attempt. Zaeed pumped his grenade launcher one final time, while Shepard and Legion emptied both of their thermal clips into the warrior, his shield flashing as their rounds impacted. One final flash, and the Elite Warrior collapsed, his body disappearing in a flash of blue light as the grenades detonated.

Shepard blinked to clear his vision. Everything was still tinted blue when he regained his sight. Soldier instincts kicking in, Shepard did a sweep of his surroundings. Zaeed and Legion were alright. The Sangheili attackers were all dead. _All but one_, Shepard remembered, looking at where the semi-conscious warrior should be. He found only emptiness. "Shit." Shepard growled.

Suddenly, Zaeed and Legion found themselves being liftd up from behind. The injured warrior and another disengaged their cloaks so that their victims could see their demise. Shepard's instincts took over, instantly causing him to fire the sequence of neurons that released a wave of dark energy that pick up and threw the warriors against the metal walls of the alley in one massive biotic throw. "Back OFF!" Shpard yelled. The two warriors, disoriented by being thrown thirty feet into a titanium wall with the force of a runaway freight train, collapsed. Shepard ordered them to be brought to the Normandy. "Mordin's gonna have a field day with these guys." Zaeed spat as he and Legion hefted the heavy bodies into a cab. Shepard nodded, a headache forming from the intensity of the biotic throw.

**_Normandy SR-2_**

"John, you should really try and relax." Tali whispered, helping Shepard out of his armor. Since the Omega-4 Mission, Shepard had taken the liberty of moving Tali's things into his quarters. He loved every minute of that decision. "And you should definitely let me help." Tali continued, removing the last piece of Shepard's Kestrel Armor, leaving the Commander stripped down to his under-suit. Tali grinned affectionately when she noticed the smirk on Shepard's face, thankful that Mordin's _present _still worked. "I see you can definitely take a hint, Commander." she joked as they rolled onto his bed, disengaging the seals and locks on her bio-suit rapidly, while Shepard ripped off her face-mask and tossed it aside like an old gum wrapper. With her face-mask off, Tali pounced on Shepard like a lioness, rolling him over on his back, with Shepard pulling off the rest of her bio-suit. With the last barrier between them out of her way, Tali and Shepard pressed up against each other, and the rest of the night blurred away, Shepard unable to remember anything other than an intense whirlwind of passion.

Shepard woke up several hours later, with Tali still sleeping next to him. Slowly getting up out of the bed, Shepard slipped back into his jumpsuit and snuck down to Mordin's lab. He was going to get answers even if it killed him.

* * *

**AN:** Okay guys, first poll. What Spartans should I bring in first? Two votes allowed per person (Can't vote for same choice twice)

1. Noble Team

2. Kurt-051

3. John-117 (aka MASTER CHIEF)

4. Tom-B292

5. Alpha Company (SPARTAN-III's)

6. Spartan Group Omega (Halo Wars)

**PS: I apologize for changing love interests. (I personally prefer Tali) For those of you who like Kelly, There'll be a poll for that later.**

**Sincerely,**

**-Sergeant K-BAR**


	5. Flashbacks

_**SSV Olympus, Reach Orbit, February 23, 2171**_

Vice Admiral James Drake sat in his office, waiting. He had been waiting for nearly an hour for two unspecified VIPs to enter his office. Rolling a pencil across his desk, the Vice Admiral looked up when the familiar _whoosh _of his door was heard. "Ah, so you're finally here," he said, straining to keep the boredom out of his voice. "Please, sit down. Apparently we, have much to discuss."

"Thank you, Vice Admiral." The women said, sitting down in one of the semi-comfortable office chairs in front of her. The other VIP, a middle aged, Hispanic man of a very serious countenance, remained standing. "I'm Dr. Catherine Halsey. This is Chief Petty Officer Mendez." She said, introducing herself and her partner. "As you already know, we are here to discuss project: ORION." Halsey stated, Mendez continuing to stand ominously. The Vice Admiral raised one eyebrow in confusion.

"I thought ORION was cancelled." Drake said, glancing at Mendez. The man looked as though he had seen a lot of action. Mendez straightened his posture, as if preparing to speak, but Halsey cut him off.

"It was, due to lack of funding and unsatisfactory results. It was, however, approved for a second stage." Halsey explained, easing the confusion. Drake shrugged, shuffling some documents on his desk while Halsey continued. "The second stage, now known as the SPARTAN program, has officially produced its first successful soldiers." Halsey stated, sliding a data-pad toward Drake.

The Vice Admiral nearly dropped the data-pad when he saw the results. "This can't be accurate." he said, eyebrows still rose in an expression of shock.

"They are, sir," Mendez said, his gruff tone filling the room. "Those readouts are from the first training session, 6 years ago." Mendez continued, smirking at Drake's continued state of shock.

"This can't be legal, either." Drake finally managed to spit out. He couldn't believe what he was reading. Power armored super-soldiers, bred for war from toddlerhood, and given beyond super-human killing power, was unimaginable. "How did you keep this secret from the families?" Drake asked, confusion dominating his tone.

"Flash clones," Halsey said, thumbing the 'next' button on the data-pad. Drake still looked confused. Mendez spoke out in an effort to alleviate some of that confusion. "Every part of this project goes against both Alliance and Council Sanctions about genetic engineering and all laws regarding 'unfair advantage' policies enacted by the Citadel Council." Mendez explained, straightening his posture again. Drake began to shake his head.

"The Office of Naval Intelligence is not going to like this, at all." he said, resting his head in his hand. The aged Vice Admiral couldn't believe the situation he was in.

"They already know." Halsey said; calmly watch Drake's eyebrows fly up in confusion. "And before you go on, they approved it. Fully"

Drake couldn't believe his ears. _ONI fully approving the kidnapping of children, and then the deliberate breaking of Alliance and Council laws?_, the VA thought, confused. "This isn't making sense." Drake said, laying his head on his desk in a gesture of defeat.

"It doesn't have to, sir. But none of this goes past this room. Eyes only classification. You understand." Mendez stated, snapping Drake a salute before leaving his office. Halsey followed him out.

"Have a nice day, Vice Admiral Drake." Halsey said, waving at him as she walked out of the office. Drake walked over to his coffee pot, pouring himself a mug and he walked pack to his desk. "Oh how the world changes." Drake said, smiling. Forwarding the report across a 'non-existent' channel, Drake's superiors would have a field day with this. In accordance with standard procedure, Drake dropped two pills into his mug off coffee, blanking his memory of the recent events. "Two more hours and today will have never happened." James Drake said as he took a swig of his coffee. Closing his eyes, James drifted off to sleep, the pills already erasing the memory of Dr. Halsey and CPO Mendez.

****CLASSIFIED LOCATION** **_**2180**_

_**EYES ONLY CLASSIFICATION**_

**_**Input CODE WORD: BLUE FALCON**_**

_Welcome: Unknown User_

**_WARNING: Unauthorized Access Detected, Clearing Systems cache_**

**_**Overide Security Protocol Blue-571b**_**

**_**Input Access Code: WHITE KNIGHT**_**

_Welcome: Colonel Ackerson_

_S-III Progress report uploaded_

_The trainees are performing far better than expected, the first company of 300 already surpassing all projected results. Top in this are SPARTAN A001, A002, and A003. CFO Mendez has overseen the increasingly difficult training of the S-IIIs, devising a method that parallels his training of the S-IIs. Beta Company trainees are expected to surpass the Alpha Spartans in roughly 18 months of training. Alpha company has been sent to the ****LOCATION CLASSIFIED** **for "graduation", which is the genetic augmentation process. Attached in this list are a series of suggested upgrades for the Semi-Powered Infiltration Armor (SPI) from ****CLASSIFIED****_. _Have a nice day, Colonel Ackerson._

_P.S. One Squad from Beta company was lost during an exercise in the now restricted Zone 67. Rumors of a "ghost" have spread among the trainees. ****CLASSIFIED** **suspects indigenous wild-life to be the cause. In addition, he requests an additional thirty slots for Beta and all future companies._

****CLASSIFIED LOCATION** 2183**

The lone sniper sat atop his perch, anticipating the moment his targets entered the valley below him. Adjusting the sight on his scope, he saw them. Two faint shimmers, followed by a larger, partially camouflaged and heavily armored figure. Exhaling, the marksman took the shot.

The large armored sldier fell to the ground, clutching his left shoulder and spinning face first into the ground. The two other targets popped up and sprinted across the valley, attempting to find cover. The sniper dropped both target with minimal effort. Sighing, he loaded his sniper rifle onto its mag-holster and stood up, surveying his surroundings to make sure he hadn't been discovered. Decided it was all-clear, he withdrew his SMG from its holster and maneuvered down the valley.

When he reached the halfway point, somethin caught his attention. He thought he heard rustling in the brush near him. Slowing his pace to a crawl, the sniper did a quick security sweep, paying careful attention to the higher ground. Still catching nothing, he switched to his thermals and did another sweep. With his scope now guaranteed all clear, he turned to continue his descent.

More rustling. "BONZAI!" rang out across the valley as a camouflaged trainee sprang onto the sniper, stun knife drawn out in an attempted drop-slice maneuver. The Sniper side-stepped the attack, bringing his knee into the trainees gut, and causing small amounts of blood to trickle from his nose. Letting a quiet laugh escape his lips, the Sniper slapped a pair of hand-cuffs on the trainee and threw him against a tree. The Sniper then turned, surveying the valley one more time.

"You really need to stop doing that." A voice said calmly from behind him. Hearing the hammer of a gun pull back, the Sniper heard reached for his SMG. "Don't try it. You're outgunned and outnumbered." The voice said. The Sniper chuckled.

"By how much?" He said, still laughing. His hand twitched to his SMG at near lightning speed, but he heard the all to familiar _plink_ of a stun round, and fell face first into the hard rock underneath him.

"Me." the voice said. It belonged to one of the Excalibur Team trainees. He wore matte black SPI armor, giving it an added stealth factor when compared to the normal olive green sets.

The Sniper smiled beneath his helmet. "Nicely done," he said, "You'll be a fine addition to the Spartans." The Sniper switched on his TEAMCOMM, addressing all the other trainees. "The rest of you can learn from this boy. We'll resume this session tomorrow at 0500. Ambrose out."

**_CLASSIFIED DOCUMENT INTERCEPTED_**

_Begin Upload...Upload complete._

_Beta Company Progress Report_

_The Beta Spartans are performing as expected, the armor enhancements proving invaluable to their success. The increased capacities of the photo-reactive cells in the armor have increased camouflage capabilities by more than seventy percent. One Beta Spartan in particular managed to get recommended to **CLASSIFIED**. You will find his file has been attached to this document. CFO Mendez out._

_Name: Unknown_

_S-III Designation: SPARTAN-B312_

_KILL-CLASS: HYPER-LETHAL_

_Accomplishments: Most lethal trainee from Beta Company. Finished CFO Mendez's Level VII Obstacle course in record time, rivalling that of Lt. Ambrose. SPARTAN-B312 has prooven himself ready for the **CLASSIFIED**, and is currently our number one candidate for the program._

_Personality: Lone Wolf. Prefers the quiet, solitary methods as opposed to larger group work. Master tactician and infiltrator, capable of single-handedly incapacitating Lt. Ambrose during the "Final Exams" on **CLASSIFIED**. SPARTAN-B312 also exhibits a "no man left behind" mindset, often risking his own life in for the safety of others. An excellent soldier by any mark, and an exceptional Spartan Candidate._

**_**FURTHER ACCESS DENIED. PROPER CODE WORD REQUIRED**_**

**_**OVERIDE ACCESS PROTOCOL 57b. Input CODE: FILESHARK**_**

**_**ACCESS DENIED. INITIATING PROTOCOL 471d. HAVE A NICE DAY**_**

**_CLASSIFIED LOCATION, 2185_**

"Men and women of the Spartan Program, I welcome you to your final test." Lt. Ambrose called out over the SSV Hopeful's PA system. He looked over the large crowd of Spartan-IIIs ready for their test. Ambrose paused before shouting, "Graduation," at the crowd. A roar of cheers and applause answered him, with the Drill instructors escorting the graduates from Gamma and Theta companies to the augemntation beds. Ambrose smiled. This is where they would either was-out, permantly crippled or even killed by the augments, or rise again as Spartan-IIIs, the latest in a long line of pure-bred warriors. Ambrose took one final look at the observation panel before sighing. "You've had a long journey, Spartans. Bon't disappoint."


	6. Contact

_**SSV Normandy, 2186**_

"Shepard, these creatures are most curious," Mordin said, pointing at the dead Sangheili lying on the operating table. Shepard nodded, scanning the Sangheili's features. "Also, their technology is far beyond anything I am able to understand." Mordin continued, pulling up a holographic display of information regarding the Sangheili's physiology and technology. "Although, I have managed to create a shield booster that should be capable of withstanding some of their weapons fire. Needs field test." the Salarian Doctor said, finishing his brief speech.

"Forget it, Mordin. I'm not risking my people. You can test it in the cargo hold on a live fire dummy if you have to. Just don't slap it on any of us until it's done." Shepard said, scowling slightly at the dead alien. A bad taste filled Shepard's mouth. Mordin directed Shepard toward the displays, showing him various weakness and strengthin both the Sangheil physiology and technology. Nodding, Shepard told Mordin to work on reverse engineering as much as he can, and then left the lab to gear up for his next mission.

The Illusive Man had sent Shepard a list of Dossiers for potential recruits. Shepard read through all of them and decided that, since the closest one was still on the Citadel, he would stay and look for them. Calling Tali and Jacob up to the CIC, Shepard gave them a rough outline of the mission and headed for the airlock.

_**Zakera Ward, C-Sec Officers Apts. 0945 Hrs (GST)**_

Shepard had followed various back alley leads in tracking down a man by the name of Dervish, an apparent techno wizard and tactical genius capable of outrunning C-Sec for over ten years. Shepard was surprised when Cerberus operatives had sent him here, to an Officers' "Barracks" of sorts. Shepard shrugged of any confusion and hesitation he had by ringing the doorbell. Shepard sat waiting for the door to open. Finally, the familiar _click_of the unlocking mechanism sounded and the door whooshed open. "What do you want, human?" an irate Krogan asked, glancing from side to side almost nervously. Shepard had a funny feeling about this. A Krogan shouldn't ever be acting nervous.

"I'm here to see Dervish." Shepard replied. The Krogan's eyes narrowed, accompanied by a slight twitch from the corner of his mouth.

"He's not here." the Krogan replied, stepping back to allow the door to close.

"Othoona, don't even." a voice called out from the back of the apartment, the human it belonged to stepping out from behind a wall. "I don't think the mighty Shepard is buying it, anyway." The man appeared to be young, no later than his mid-twenties. _How could this guy be causing C-Sec so many problems? _Shepard thought, baffled by the man's reputation despite his youth. The man then cleared his throat, preparing to introduce himself. "I am Tech Officer Aidan McAllister, also known as the infamous cyber-criminal Dervish." he said, sweeping his hand through sandy blond hair. Shepard looked him over one last time. "Expecting someone older?" Dervish asked, cocking his head to the side in a smart-ass manner.

"Actually, yes." Shepard answered, walking into the apartment. The Krogan guard had since retreated into another room.

"Don't mind him. Othoona's just little jumpy." Dervish said, pouring a drink from one of the bottles sitting in front of him. Shepard looked around the room. It was tasteful, but otherwise unsuspecting. Shepard knew there was most likely a hidden compartment that housed Dervish's business wares around th apartment somewhere. His attention was drawn to a set of photographs. They were of a couple. "That's me and my girl." Dervish said, noticing Shepard's gaze. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams."

"I knew she looked familiar." Shepard said. He didn't recognize Williams with her hair down. "Hope you know she's a hellcat." Shepard said, remembring her fiery personality.

"Yeah, well, she's also a sweetheart. Once you get to know her." Dervish replied. He then told Shepard the story of how he met her, on Horizon. "Yeah, I helped her load some of the shuttles that went off-world after the attack." Dervish finished. Shepard nodded, grabbing the drink now sitting in front of him.

"Dervish, do you know why I'm here?" Shepard asked, setting his glass back on th metal coffee tabl in front of him. Dervish nodded.

"I assume you're here to recruit me on some crazy-ass, near impossible suicide mission with the well-being of the galaxy at stake?" Dervish said, eliciting a nod from Shepard. "Well then, say no more. I'm in."

**_SSV Normandy SR-2, Attican Traverse_**

Dervish had adjusted to his new home nicely, placing a picture of Williams on his nightstand. Looking around, Dervish was satisfied with his modification to the Starboard Observation Deck. With the sound of a door opening behind him, Dervish turned just in time to see Commander Shepard entering his room. "Hope everything is to your liking." Shepard said, a small grin appearing on his face. This was, after all, his easiest recruitment ever.

"Yes sir." Dervish replied, a smug tone traceable in his voice. He continued to look around before asking Shepard what they do next. "Well, until the proceeding on the hostiles are finished, we wait." Shepard replied, sighing at the turn things were taking.

**_Harvest, Epsilon Indi System, 2186_**

The ships in orbit around Harvest were going through another, as of yet uneventful, patrol around the planet. A small detachment of marines kept the various farmers on the planet's surface company. The two VIs that maintained a watch over the colony scanned various amounts of data while monitoring Harvest's orbital jurisdiction, in a tandem effort to spot pirates.

"Anamoly detected." the first VI, named Sif, reported. The _SSV Stalingrad's_ Captain nearly spat out his coffee at this report.

"Get a vector on it, NOW!" he yelled at the ships navigator. "Raise the Kosovo and Bunker Hill. Tell them to prepare for a possible pirate attack."

"Aye, sir." the comm officer replied, turning to his comm panel. "This is SSV Stalingrad. The VI Sif has detected an anomaly. Prepare for possible pirate attack and investigation."

"Sir, vector achieved. Acquiering video feed." The navigator replied, pressing a few buttons and activating a display. The Captain couldn't believe his eyes.

"What in God's name?" he asked, still in disbelief. A burst of light had preceded thee appearance of two large, sleek vessels of unknown origin. They were rapidly approaching Harvest. "Raise the damned things. Tell them to halt and Identify themselves." the Captain yelled, fear rising inside him as he began understand what was happening. "And prepare for a First Contact event."

**_Triumphant Vindicator_**

"Ship Master, unknown planet and vessels detected." Y'goro Van'Gallum reported, activating the holographic display. A blue-green planet surrounded by ships of various designs appeared. The Triumphant Vindicator had just dropped out of Slip-Space.

"Incoming Transmission. Receive?" Thel Fula'Mee asked, highlighting the transmission on the communications display.

"Receive." the Jiralhanae Ship Master said, with the Prophet of Mercy keeping a close eye on him. _No blood feuds on my vessel, Ship Master, _the Prophet had said. The Ship Master was reluctant to follow this order, but felt he had no choice. The transmission played across their speakers. "This is the SSV Stalingrad. Unidentified vessel, you have entered a star system under the control of the Human Systems Alliance. Please identify and respond." the transmission played. The advanced Covenant A.I.'s translation matrices quickly replayed the translation in the Covenant's unified language.

"What is this Systems Alliance?" the Prophet asked, wondering if they were the same ones that defiled the relics discovered on other worlds. "Bring forth the Arbiter." the Prophet ordered. Two Jiralhanae guards proceeded to the brig to retrieve the former Ship Master Rylus Thel'Vadumee, now the Arbiter, the Blade of the Prophets.

When he arrived, th Prophet of Mercy directed him towards the display. "Do tou know of this?" he asked, impatiently tapping his fingers on the arm of his transport chair.

"Yes, Prophet. They were on several of the worlds we detected relics on, defiling them with their ignorance. The last group we encountered were attempting to destroy one of the sacred ruins." the Arbiter answered. The Prophet turned back towards the display.

"This matter is over. Destroy them." He said without hesitation. "But let them know their enemy. Tell them of the glorious Covenant, the chosen few. The only ones capable of ascending through the Great Journey!" the Prophet yelled dramatically, rousing the spirits of the crew. As they continued their approach, the first lines of their Glorious Plasma were loosed.

**_**Intercepted Distress Signal**_**

**_Location: Epsilon Indi System, Planet Harvest_**

_**Message begins:**This is the SSV Kosovo, HSA Colonial Defence Force. We are under attack by unknown hostile ships. They appeared without warning and did not use the Mass Relay. VI designated Sif detected radiological anomaly before unknown vessels appeared. Request immediate back-up. Enemy possesses directed energy weapons and technology far beyond our own, including unknown FTL capabilities. Repeat, enemy possesses highly advanced technology. We've lost the SSV Stalingrad and the Bunker Hill is under heavy fire. We need back-up, immediately. Drop-ships reported planet-side by colonial marines. Send immediate back-up. **Message Repeats**_

**_Message Priority: CODE WHITE_**

**_Response Protocol: WINTER CONTINGENCY_**

_****HIGH PRIORITY TRANSMISSION****_

_**From: Arcturus Station**_

_**To: Citadel Council**_

_**Message:**_

_Councilors, today at roughly 1300 hours galactic standard time, the Human colony of Harvest came under attack by unidentified hostiles possessing directed energy weapons, i.e. plasma cannons, launchers, etc. The Human Systems Alliance requests additional support in dealing with this enemy. Recent reports show that unknown hostiles of similar origin and description have been sighted on the Citadel. We fear that a full-scale war looms on the horizon. We again request that additional support be granted to us in this time of need. All attempt to reason with the hostiles have ended in failure. Without a diplomatic option, retaliation seems the only choice._

_With urgency_

_Admiral Stephen Hackett, Human Systems Alliance._

**_**Transmission Ends**_**

**_

* * *

_**

AN:

Thanks for all the support, readers. I'll be introducing the winning Spartans next chapter. Also, sorry if this one seems short. It's just a prelude of some future action.


	7. Meet the Spartans

_**Harvest, 2186**_

"Preparing HEVs. ETA to Harvest 15 minutes." The flight operator of the _SSV Planck _called out, causing troopers to scramble to their pods. "Drop ships detaching."

SPARTAN-B312 looked around, the rest of Noble Team climbing into their HEVs. Doing the same, he donned his Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Helmet, double checking the latch on his pod as it slid shut. "We go feet first." he heard the ODSTs shout. Closing his eyes, he entered the launch code, stabilizing his pod. Noble Team would be accompanied by Red and Blue Team, both comprised of battle-hardened SPARTAN-IIs. They would were also being sent in with the Bullfrogs, a division of ODSTs specializing in personal Jet-Pack Combat. "Bullfrogs Ready?" their commander called out, eliciting a roaring "yes sir" from the troopers.

"Drop Point reached, detaching HEVs" the intercom called. SPARTAN-B312 felt the sensation of acceleration as his HEV entered free-fall, descending towards harvest at break-neck speeds. Gripping his harness, Noble Six closed his eyes until he hit the ground. Hard.

Snapping his eyes open, Noble Six hit the release mechanism for his HEV, grabbing the assault rifle in his pod. His TEAMCOM roared with static. "This is SPARTAN-B312, of Noble Team. Noble One, do you read?" he yelled into his helmet's microphone.

"Noble Six, this is Noble One. Glad you made it soldier. Rendezvous at Rally Point Alpha in five. Clear Noble?" Carter-A259 replied. Noble Six grinned, happy to be in the fight.

"Yes sir!" Six replied, his HUD display Rally Point Alpha's waypoint. Checking his weapon's heat gauge, Six sprinted off toward the waypoint, making sure to gun down any targets he saw on the way.

"Burn them!" the Sangheili Major roared, gesturing his troops to move forward. The Unggoy under his command reluctantly obliged, fearful of what may happen otherwise. The Sangheiliflared his mandibles in excitement as the humans screamed with pain, super-heated plasma burning away their armor. "RAAAAGHH!" he roared, drawing his plasma repeater and charging head first into a squad of human ODSTs.

Jorge-052 revved his mini-gun, anxious to test the experimental weapon on the new enemies. Sighting a squad of smaller, runt-like troops, he unleashed his mass-accelerated fury on them. "I like this gun!" he exclaimed, satisfied with the way it turned the Grunts into a bluish-purple paste. Carter-A259 grinned as Jorge played with his new toy.

"Don't overdo it, Four." Carter half-yelled, a slight reprimand in his tone. Carter scanned the horizon for targets, his helmet's zoom feature aiding him in his search.

"Sir, I've got motion." Jorge said, readying his behemoth weapon for another run. Carter nodded, shouldering his DMR. Looking down the scope, Carter spotted them. Two Skirmishers, bothof them armed with some form of sniper rifle.

"Get down!" he yelled, diving behind a rock as shards of plasma shattered around him. Jorge returned fire with a volley of disruptor rounds from his mini-gun, pushing the Skirmishers back slightly. The Skirmishers returned fire, shards impacting Jorge's kinetic barriers, dropping their status bar to 75%. Jorge cycled his weapon's heat-sinks, and then laid down more suppressing fire. Carter took this opportunity and fired a few rounds from his DMR, catching one of the Skirmishers in the head.

The other Skirmisher didn't get a chance to run, however. A large boom echoed across the valley as its head erupted into a fountain of purple-red blood and chunks of skull. "Nice shot, Jun." Carter called out across TEAMCOM, satisfied that he now had sniper support. Jun Smiled beneath his scout helmet.

"Not a problem, Commander." he replied, smugness evident in his voice. Carter's eyes rolled underneath his helmet. Jun always liked to show off. "Where's our new Six?" Jun asked, anxious to meet the newest addition to Noble Team.

"He's on his way." Carter replied, wondering what was taking Six so long.

_**Two miles south of Rally Point Alpha**_

Noble Six ducked between rocks as the Sangheili warriors blasted him withplasma. "Is that the best you've got?" Six yelled, returning fire with two bursts of phase-rounds from his assault rifle. They ripped into the enemies shields like wet tissue paper.

"Kill the Defiler!" the Warrior yelled, throwing a plasma grenade at Six, who rolled in a dodge attempt. Coming up short, Six's shields flared as the heat and molten shrapnel pelted the Spartan, dropping them to half power. Thowing a grenade of his own, Noble Six sprinted towards th Sangheili with a blodlust roar echoing off the valley walls. As the grenade detonatd, Six pounced the Warrior, plunging his knife deep into the alien's neck. With a satisfying gurgle, the Sangheili collapsed to the ground. Six sheathed his knife, looked back towards the rally point. Smiling, he resumed his race to the Rest of Noble Team.

_**Rally Point Alpha**_

Emile smirked as he saw Six's silhouette appear on the horizon. "Show off." he said, sparks flying form his armor as he sharpened his Kukri knife. When Six arrived at the rally point, Carter gave him the full run of objectives.

"That all?" Six said smugly, his polarized visor hiding his face. Carter looked towards the city, already half ruined from orbital bombardment by the Covenant. Smiling at the opprtunity, Carter-A259 gave the "move out" signal. "SPARTAN-A259 to Overwatch, Noble Team is Oscar Mike. Echo Romeo to Rally point Sigma. Carter Out."

The rest of Noble Team followed Carter, moving strategically through the valley, dodging enemy infantry and vehicles until they reached Rally Point Sigma.

**_Unknown Location, Harvest_**

The wailing of HEVs entering the atmosphere filled the battlefield, causing Unggoy troopers to cover their ears. Spartan RED Team had just entered the fray.

"Jerome to squad, all clear?" Jerome asked, kicking the door off of his pod when the affirmation lights winked green. Scanning his surroundings for any resistance, he cleared his rifle and proceeded to Rally Point Sigma. "This is SPARTAN RED Team. We have entered the battle."

"Roger RED Team. This is Noble Team. Heavy resistance at Rally Point Sigma. Requesting additional support." Carter called out over his radio, responding to RED Team's transmission. Super-heated plasma cruised past his head, wisps of it causing his shields to flare. "Kat, get that beacon set up." Carter ordered, tossing a pair of grenades over a low wall, the explosion sending an Unggoy squad flying in all directions.

Jerome looked at his compass. Sigma was only one kilometer northwest of their current position. "Roger Noble Team. ETA ten minutes." Jerome replied, already breaking into a sprint. Douglas and Alice followed closely, both of their weapons cleared and prepped for open conflict.

**_Normandy SR-2, Unknown Space_**

"Hey, Commander, we've picked up a distress signal. It's HSA encoded." Joker announced over the intercom. Shepard shook his head.

"We can't spare the time, Lieutenant." Shepard reluctantly answered. As much as he'd like to help, the unknown hostiles and Reapers took priority.

"Uh, Commander, you should seriously hear this." Joker said, nervousness heavy in his voice. Shepard caved in.

"Alright, play the signal." Shepard said, resting his head in his hand. He had a mission, but it would have to wait for now. His eyes grew wide wen he heard the signal. "Joker, get a lock on that. We're going in, NOW!" Shepard yelled, already making his way to the ships large hangar area. "EDI, prepare the shuttle for launch. Things just got a whole lot more complicated."

* * *

**AN: **Size comparisons between Mass Effect and Covenant ships

ME Frigates = Covenant Light Cruiser/Stealth Corvette

ME Cruisers = Roughly the size of a Covenant Destroyer

ME Carriers = Covenant Frigate/Corvette/Cruiser

ME Dreadnoughts = Covenant Frigate/Corvette/Cruiser

Covenant Supercarriers = Roughly 1/3 the size of the Citadel

Covenant Assault Carriers = 1/8 the size of the Citadel

High Charity = Almost ten times the size of the Citadel

Unyielding Hierophant = Roughly 1/4 the size of the Citadel


	8. Last Full Measure

_**Harvest Relay, Epsilon Indi System, 2186**_

As the Normandy exited the Mass Relay, Shepard's attention was immediately drawn to the scanners, surveying them for any anomalies. The other crewmen pored over their instruments with the fervor of catholic priests, almost turning it into a religious practice. Shepard noted several anomalies detected, all radiological. Large bursts of Cherenkov radiation, a type only emitted by slip-space drives, which were deemed to unstable and hazardous to use by the Alliance in 2127. "Impossible, these scanners must be malfunctioning." Shepard said, moving back to the map section of the CIC. Dervish ran the data through his omni-tool, carefully searching for any errors or viral bits.

"Commander, you're scanners work fine." Dervish reported, gaze still locked to his omni-tool. More seemingly random data had to be sorted through before Dervish could be able to verify the readouts. Shepard stared at the map, searching for the enemy ships described in the signal. After sifting through the massive data pools, Dervish tapped a few keys on his omni-tool, which began uploading the processed data to Shepard's Galaxy Map. "Sir, you will not believe this." He said, finally looking up from his omni-tool, face locked in an expression of shock.

"I won't belie-" Shepard stopped mid-sentence, mouth agape, disbelief rippling across his face. On the display was something that his mind screamed was impossible. A ship, the size of a mountain range, had just winked onto his display. "That can't be real." Shepard said, apprehension rising in his voice. "That cannot be real." he repeated, still in shock from the massive spaceship rapidly approaching Harvest.

"Sir, high-energy signatures detected. They're, they're firing plasma at Harvest." one of the crewmen said. Other crewmen began to murmur, panic increasing in th CIC. Some spoke of how they had family on Harvest, others spoke of wanting revenge. Some, however, sat there in quiet disbelief, unable to comprehend the horrors being witnessed. Shepard's head fell into a position of shame. He had failed. He had arrived too late to save Harvest. He felt like he had let humanity down. For the first time since Akuze, Shepard felt guilt.

_**Triumphant Vindicator, Harvest Orbit**_

"Fire the cleansing beams, Ship Master! Let none of those heathen Defilers be spared!" the Prophet of Regret yelled in zealous splendor, voice filled with joyous cries and celebratory shouts.

"Sir, the Defilers have began to retreat." one of the Sangheili crewmen announced, urgency in his tone. The Prophet, lost in a fit of zealous joy, spun around in his hover chair, singing praises to his alien gods. The other crewmen ignored him, adamant in attempting to exterminate the Defilers. Focusing all their plasma lines on the surface of Harvest, the Covenant had began its glassing. The Prophet, finally snapping back to reality, issued a final transmission to all the Defiler ships in the area.

"Your worlds will burn, until their surface is but glass. They will reflect the vast splendor of the stars that surround them, and your people will learn the true value of the Relics that you defile. You will pay for your sins, now and forever!" Satisfied, the Prophet turned and piloted his hover chair into the Triumphant Vindicator's inner sanctum. The remainder of the crew focused on glassing the planet, making sure that their were no survivors.

"Ship Master, new vessels detected." another crewman yelled, activating the holo-display. Reinforcements from the Citadel had arrived.

"Bah, their puny ships are no match for us!" the Ship Master yelled, his voice a half-snarl of rage. Two Unggoy were the unfortunate victims of the Ship Master's brutality, and they currently lay bleeding profusely on the bridge.

"Sir, we have locked onto the targets." the weapons master reported.

"Ready the main lines, we shall-WHAT!" the Ship Master roared as the Triumphant vindicator suddenly rocked viciously from side to side, throwing the various crew species around the bowels of the super-carrier.

"Sir, high velocity impacts detected. No major damage, except for a fifty percent powerloss to the Unggoy feeding pods." the Sangheili engineer reported, causing the surviving Unggoy to moan in extrme disapproval.

"Reroute all power to weapons. Cleanse the non-believers!"

_**Epsilon Indi System, 1458 hrs (GST)**_

The Spartans shook violently in their drop-ship, racing through the cosmos attempting to make it to one of the evacuating ships. "Repeat, this is Carter-A259 of Noble Team, requesting immediate exfil, over." Carter shouted into his radio as another explosion shook the over packed ten man corvette. They were flanked on either side by Kodiak shuttles, each carrying roughly twenty troops. The ships raced through the orbs of plasma rocketing towards Harvest, skillfully dodging debris as well.

"Repeat, this is Noble Team. We need exfil, immedia-" Carter's comm unit clicked off as the ship nearly rolled out of control, barley dodging an explosion and the remains of the _SSV Stalingrad_. Jun grabbed Carter's shoulder, causing him to turn around.

"We're not going home, are we?" he asked rhetorically, his face completely languid. The other Spartans all began to remove their helmets, taking one last look at each other before the final shock wave. Jorge looked out a view-port, seeing the now scorching surface of Harvest.

With eyes loaded with sorrow, he whispered "I'm sorry," before turning back to face the rest of Noble Team. "Well, we had a good run, eh?" Jorge said, clapping his fist against his chest in a way resembling an old warrior's salute.

"It's been an honor serving with you, all of you." Carter said, reaching his hand into the middle of the group.

"Yeah, guess it has been one hell of a party." Emile said, clapping his hand on top of Carter's. He smiled underneath his helmet.

"Until the next life, Noble Team." Kat said, laying her robotic hand on top of Emile's. She smiled when she looked up at Carter.

Jun looked at the group before silently placing his hand in with the others. "To Noble." he said, tossing his helmet onto the corvette's floor.

Noble Six stood silently, observing the rest of the team, fully willing to sacrifice themselves in the wake of Armageddon. Reaching his hand out, Six smiled. "To a fitting ed, Noble Team." Six said, clapping his hand on top of Jun's with a dull thud. Another shock wave rocked the corvette, causing it to spiral into a mass of debris. With the shielding failed and a hull breach imminent, Noble Team looked itself in the eyes, and nodded. Each member retracting their hand, all six members fully accepted their fate. One final explosion sent the corvette and the two followed shuttles spinning out into interplanetary space, too far from any surviving ships to be picked up. With all the craft automatically activating their distress beacons, all the Spartans could do was wait for it all to end.

_**SSV Normandy, 30 minutes later**_

"Captain, all the shuttle passengers have been accounted for. Two teams of mystery soldiers as well as the legendary Bullfrogs. Go figure." Dr. Chakwas announced over the PA system, pulling Shepard out of an intimate moment with Tali. Storming out of the elevator, the Commander was greeted by the spectacle of a flooded medical bay, half of which was full of soldiers in unknown armor.

"Doc, what's going on?" Shepard asked, casing glances of suspicion on the new soldiers armor.

"They won't tell me. Claim they're part of a Classified Project. Although if I had my guess, I'd say they are from Dr. Halsey's SPARTAN Program." She explained, gesturing towards the larger soldiers. "As for these, I'm entirely unsure. Perhaps the Illusive man would know." She continued, waving her hand at the shorter, yet similarly armored, group of soldiers. "Oh, and these are the surviving members of the Bullfrogs." She finished, eliciting a loud "Hoo-rah" from the seven surviving Bullfrogs members.

Shepard looked at the soldiers in the strange armor. It was definately a human design, alhough the tactical use of it seemed to be along the lines of making these troops into walking tanks. "Who are you?" Shepard asked the one with a skull carved into his faceplate.

"Wouldn't you like to know, dog breath." Emile replied, shoving Shepard back with a light biotic push. Emile then shook his head and leaned back against the wall, his armor making a light metallic_ clink _upon impact. Shepard stumbled back slightly at the displacement wave.

At that moment, Dervish walked into the medical bay. "Shepard, I've got good news."

"What is it?" Shepard asked, a hint of impatience in his tone. Dervish smiled and handed him a data-pad full of information Cerberus had pulled on the Spartans.

"Have fun with that." Dervish said, making his way back to his quarters. He had a very important call to make.

Shepard's eyes darted rapidly over the information, soaking it in while paying special attention to the "classified" sections. When he reached Noble Six's, his jaw went slack. "That is a lot of black ink." Shepard said, looking at the Spartan designated Noble Six.

Six nodded, the only member of Noble Team without an attitude right now. "That's right. All me." Six said, garnering vicious glances from the other Spartans. "And before the rest of you throw a damn tantrum, I hope you know we're talking to a Spectre." Six announced before walking over to Shepard. "But let's get one thing clear," he said, jerking the data-pad from Shepard's hands." Anything you want to know, you ask for."


	9. Spartans, Assemble

_**SSV Normandy SR-2, 2186**_

Shepard stared beck at Noble Six, taken aback by the Spartan's attitude. "Agreed." Shepard said quietly, nodding in agreement with Six's offer. Six nodded in reply and tossed the data-pad over to Kat, who promptly locked it down. Carter got up from his seat and walked over to Shepard, reaching out his hand in an old gesture of friendship.

"Name's Carter. If you are who Six says you are, then we're on good terms. Fuck with my team, and you're dead. Got it?" Carter conversed, waiting for Shepard's handshake. Shepard reached out in compliance with Carter's statement.

"Anyone else want to make nice?" Shepard joked, shrugging lightly. The other Spartans slowly worked around to introducing themselves, all but Emile.

"Don't mind him. He's just got issues with Cerberus." Six said, giving the unspoken question on Shepard's face an answer. Shepard nodded in understanding.

"It's okay, I do to." Shepard replied. He then explained how the Normandy's crew is currently working "with" Cerberus, not "for" them. Emile wasn't entirely convinced, but he let up on the asshole routine for a short time. Satisfied with his results, Shepard told Joker to plot a course for Arcturus Station, hoping to return the soldiers to their commanding officers.

As the Normandy approached, Shepard comandeered a direct line to Admiral Hackett, informing him of the recovered Spartans.

"Shepard, I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that." Hackett replied, a hint of ager bleeding through the comm system. Shepard smiled.

"Well, sir, I know something else you're not going to want to hear. I want them on my mission." Shepard said. He heard Hackett make an agitated growl over the comm. Still smiling, Shepard spent the next twenty minutes outlining his mission to Hackett. Hackett quietly listend to Shepard's mission brief. After some careful consideration, Hackett gave them the green light.

"Those Spartans are yours now, Shepard. Take good care of them. Hackett out." the aged Admiral said, the comm system fuzzing out as he clicked the off button. Shepard smiled. Transfering the transcript onto a data-pad, he walked back down to the medical bay to give the Spartans their new orders.

The Spartan-IIs in RED Team stayed eerily silent, only nodding in agreement with their new deployment orders. Noble Team only had one objecter. "I do not trust you, dog licking asshole." Emile said, giving Shepard an archaic hand gesture, with Shepard rolling his eyes at Emile's childish attempt to piss him off.

"You'll have to do btter than that if you're trying to piss me off, Emile." Shepard said, harsh sarcasm filling the air around him. Suddenly, Emil lunged toward Shepard in full biotic charge, knocking the Commander out of the md-bay and a good five feet ito the next room.

"Don't you ever use my fucking first name, you hear me? Do you, you dog-fucking, bitch licking, dog dick-in-ass motherfucker? Do you hear me!" Emile yelled, a full on biotic brawl having broke out between him and Shepard.

"Back OFF!" Shepard yelled as he threw Emile towards a wall wih the force of a freight train. Emile's visor cracked from the force of the impact, only deepening his blood lust. Now, he charged Shepard with all his might, roaring like an enraged lion about to kill his prey.

"I'll fuck you up, BITCH!" Emile yelled as he impacted Shepard. What he hadn't counted on was Shepard using a biotic stasis lock on himself. Emile got the wind knocked out of him as he hit the immovable object Shepard had transformed into, the force of the impact completely shattering his visor. As Emile began to fade in and out of consciousness, Shepard stood over him.

"You want to try that again, Emile?" Shepard said in an arrogant tone. Emile chuckled, a light smirk spreading across his face.

"This ain't over, bitch." Emile said, laughing again as he passed out. Shepard looked over at the shocked marines, ordering them to help him carry Emile back to the med-bay.

After his display of biotic power, Shepard called Dervish on the comm, asking him if Hackett set any supplies. "Yeah, he sent a full cargo of SPARTAN Program weapons and armor. Their's enough here for the whole team, including us." Dervish replied, still locked to the inventory display on his omni-tool. H scanned through the list of weapons, all beefed up to Spartan specs. Th armors made his jaw drop, with all the heavy shielding and armor plating on the MJOLNIR models, and the stealth factors of the SPI models.

"Damn, we might just be set." Shepard said, turning and heading back up to his quarters. Tali was going o have an engineering field day.

**_SSV Normandy, 2 hours later_**

"Shepard." Emile said, nodding at his new Commander. Shepard smiled, a begrudging respect growing between them. Moving on through the argo hold, Shepard looked at the armory that Hackett had sent the spartans. A warehouse of armors and weapons, all top quality, cutting edge, ad experimental technology. Tali was working over some of the Spartan-IIs armor systems, patcthing damage and increasing efficieny. The S-IIs had let her do that reluctantly, Jrome still observing her with all the patience of a saint, making sure she wasn't stealig any data from the operating systems. When she was done, The Spartans had the armor immediately re-equipped and armed themselves for the next mission. Luckily, the Normandy had a gun range recently added in, so the Spartans had something to occupy their time. Noble Team had their armors rpaired, Noble Six replacing the HALO jump kit on his chest.

Shepard took another look around, the Bullfrogs had insistd on repairing their own jetpacks. Now, thy were all flying across the cargo hold, shoots targets on tthe range with relative ease. Shepard knew they'd come in handy as zero-g fighters. Smiling he returnd to engineering to play poker with Tali and the other engineers.

Emile, on the other hand, attempted to make his way to the mess hall. As he entered the levator, howver, he was immediately aware of someone watching him. When the lift stopped at thee enginerinf level, Emile decided to investigate. Scanning his surroundings, all h heard was th laughter of Shepard and company as they played their card game.

"Hey, Emile. Over here!" a voice called out, a hoarse whisper against the low rumbling of the engineering deck. Emile followed the voice, keeping silent as it called out to him. When he reached the stairs, he suddennly felt the sensation of increasing gravity, ad tumbled had first over the edge of the stairs, crashing into the lower levl of the deck. He knew he had been forced over by a powerful biotic. As he reached for his burst pistol, the voice called out again. "Is that how you greet all your exes?"

"Jack? I thought you were still in prison." Emile said, a puzzled look appearing behind his visor. He had't re-carved the skull into his new helmet yet.

"Yeah, well, the good captain managed to bust me out." Jack said, taking a step toward Emile, putting eextra amounts of sexy into her swagger. Emile, for one rare moment, took off his helmet.

"You haven't changed a bit." he said, a wise-cracking smile spreading across his face. Deep inside, part of him was actually happy to see Jack again. "You know, if I could've, I would've brought you with me." Emile continued, smile turning into a smirk as Jack wrapped her arms around him.

"Yeah, well, can't change the past right?" She said, bringing her face close to his, taunting Emile.

"No, but I can make up for it." he replied, pushing Jack onto a table.

**_SSV Normandy, Mess Hall_**

Noble Six looked around the cre deck of the Normandy, getting his bearings on the new ship. It was larger than most frigates, and Six took notice of the fact that this ship had a full kitchen detail, and an excellent Mess Sergeant. "Thanks Gardner." Six said between mouthfuls of good, solid food. It had seemed like an etrnity had passed sin the last time Six had eaten real food. After stuffing his face with a variety of food, Six made his way to the crew quarters. After getting various looks from the crew relaxing in the room, Six walked out and ran right into Dervish.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't-" Dervish said, cut off as Six raised his hand in an "it's all right" gesture.

"No problem. My fault anyway." Six said, looking Dervish over. He was tall, green-eyed, with a semi-athleetic build. He seemed more suited to tchnological roles and rco than to front-lines fighting.

"Oh, by the way, if you'd like a different area, Shepard said Noble Team is free to bunk in the lounge." Dervish said, gesturing to the other observation deck.

"Thanks." Six said, pushing past Dervish to see the Lounge.

"My name's Dervish, by the way. I'm the Normandy's newest Tech Officer." Dervish called out, Six's only reply being a brief thumbs-up.

As he entered the lounge, Jorge greeted him with a boisterous laugh and an ooffer of exotic drinks. "No thanks, 052." Six answered, taking a seat at the bar.

"Ah, come on Six, eveeryone's taking some time to chill out. Even Emile." Jorge said, standing because the barstools would fail under his tremendous weight. Six laughed in reply, resting his head o his folded arms.

"Maybe I do need a little R&R." Six said, reaching for a bottle labeled "Illium's Finest".


	10. Politics, War, and, Assassins

_**Citadel Council Chambers, 2186**_

The Council was deliberating on the recent conflict at Harvest. The situation was not going well. "Anderson, you don't understand." The Turian Councilor Velarn, said, taking a light condescending tone with Councilor Anderson.

"No, Velarn, you don't understand. They destroyed an entire human colony. And you refuse to support us?" Anderson replied, his voice an elevated yell. The other two councilors looked at Velarn with looks of slight disgust.

"I agree with Anderson. This attack was an unprovoked declaration of war on humanity. And, according to reports, some of the species in this 'Covenant' are the same as the unknown sentients that have been seen causing the disturbances on the Citadel." The Asari Councilor Tevos, said, citing the reports from C-Sec.

"Agreed. It would be unwise to leave a hostile alien conglomerate to roam un-checked. According to reports, they refuse to listen to reason. Is this true, Anderson?" The Salarian Councilor Drin asked, eyes darting between the other councilors and his Omni-tool.

"Yes. We issued them a statement to identify themselves. They replied by attacking Harvest. They proceeded to deploy troops to the planet's surface. When additional troops arrived, the Covenant had already pushed most of our troops into the capital city. We managed to hold it for another seven hours before they began firing plasma at the surface in a process we've dubbed 'glassing'. There were almost no survivors." Anderson explained, activating the holographic displays in the chamber. The councilors looked over them again, still shocked at the sheer size of Covenant vessels.

"What do you suggest we do?" Velarn asked, mandibles flaring due to some unknown emotion.

"None of you are going to like it." Anderson replied, garnering nods from the rest of the council. Straightening his posture, Anderson began to explain his plan. "We discard the Treaty of Farixen until the Covenant threat has been subdued. And we reorganize all our extra resources into building the highest quality ships we can. We'll need an advanced super-fleet in order to handle the Covenant. I suggest we start immediately." Anderson finished, noting the reluctant nods from the councilors. Pulling up their control panel, the Councilors began the long task of re-writing Citadel law.

_**SSV Normandy SR-2, 2186**_

The next two days on the Normandy were relatively quiet. That is, except for the cargo hold on Deck 5.

"Squad, regroup!" Lt. Mitchells yelled, making the "on me" hand gesture. The other six Bullfrogs followed quickly, firing their jetpacks and gracefully drifting through the air like birds, or at least, a highly skilled frog. Corporal Roland's jetpack malfunctioned mid-flight, causing him to hit the ground with a dull _thud_. Seeing this as an opportunity, Noble Six sprang from his ambush point, dropping Roland with the satisfying _plink_ of stun rounds ringing from his armor. Statisfied, Six proceeded to climb over the next container. Smiling underneath his visor, Six sighted his next target.

From his crow's nest at the very top of the cargo hold, Jerome saw Noble Six climbing through the maze of containers. Smiling, he squeezed back on the trigger, sending Six's armor into lockdown as the stun round impacted. Shifting his sights, he found Lt Mitchells' group moving through a tight alleyway made by the containers. Jerome smiled behind his visor. "RED one to squad. Move to position 316. Tangos sighted. RED one out." Jerome ordered, his voice a loud whisper over his TEAMCOM. Affiramtion lights from Alice and Douglas winked green on his display. Jerome laughed quietly, adjusting his rifle for the next wave of shots. His scope automatically zoomed in on Mitchells. Jerome smiled again, already calculating all the variables of his shot. Exhaling, Jerome squeezed back on the trigger, and sent a stun round directly at Lt. Mitchells.

The hair on Mitchells' neck stood up. He could feel himself being watched. He crouched, and raised his fist in the "wait" gesture. His squad took up defensive positions around him, waiting for an ambush. Mitchells scanned his surrounding, hoping to find motion. "Nothing." he whispered, almost disappointed with himself. With nothing being detected, he lifted himself from a crouch to a cautious stand, keeping himself alert in case of an ambush.

_BANG_

Mitchells clutched his shoulder as he spun around from the impact of the stun round on his armor, causing sporadic fits of pain to erupt all over his body. Before his squad could act, however, Alice and Douglas sprang from their ambush point, ripping into the remaining Bullfrogs with their stun-loaded assault rifles. Private Karlyle, one of the lucky Bullfrogs, fired his jet-pack, which sent him flying over the wall of containers next to him. Landing with a loud crash, Karlyle picked himself up and began sprinting for the flag.

_BANG! BANG!_

Two more shots rang across Deck 5 as Karlyle continued to run down the labyrinth of containers. Panting heavily from exhaustion, Karyle ducked into a container and waited, attempting to catch his breath. Another five minutes went by without Karlyle seeing any other troops, hostile or otherwise. Deciding to take the risk, Karlyle jumped out from the container and continue his mad dash for the flag.

Jerome sighted Karlyle, running faster than any ODST he had ever seen. "Tango's oscar mike. Bearing two-six-five north in container circuit five. He's after object: Drapeau." Jerome said, informing RED team of Karlyle and his proximity to the flag.

"Roger RED one. RED two and I are oscar mike on intercept three-zero-two. Alice out." Alice said, nodding at Douglas and sprinting toward's carlyle's position. Douglas took the high road, scaling several container to attempt to cut Karlyle off.

Karlyle checked his VISR's motion tracker. Two hostiles, one high, one low. He turned and sped through an open container, dodgin stun rounds from Alice in the process. Diving into another container, Karlyle caught Alice as she turned into his alley. throwing two grenades, Karlyle ran down the alley, hoping the flashbombs would be enough to hold Alice back for another couple of seconds.

As she saw the two cylinders flying at her, she instantly polarized her visor, with the only disorientation coming from the loud bang eminating from the two flashbombs. Waiting for the ringing to clear, Alice shook her head and continued her pursuit of Karlyle, the disorientation barely affecting her ability. Karlyle never dard to look behind him. He only flicked his eyes back and forth betwen the ally and his motion tracker.

"Gotcha." Karlyle heard someone say. A loud crashing noise sounded from behind him as he felt himself hitting the ground. Douglas had tackled him. Eyes wide from the shock of being tackled by a nearly two ton mass of pure soldier, Karlyle behind to laugh maniacally as he pulled the pins on two stun grenades. The concussive blast sent Douglas into armor lock and left Karlyle heaviliy disoriented and hearing impaired. Alice managed to catch up just in time for Karlyle to fire a fw luky shots, crippling her armor and sending her face first into the wall of containers next to her. Smiling, Karlyle dragged himself into the falg chamber, pullinghimself up just enough to grab the falg and sound thee victory alarm for the Bullfrogs. With a smile on his face from the victtory at hand, Karlyle passed out, waiting for the medical team to pull him out of the maze.

**_SSV Normandy SR-2, Three hours later_**

Shepard had just finished reviewing the past three days training reports. The Bullfrogs weere improving, and th Spartans wre doing exceptional against all odds. "Never seen better soldiers before." Shepard said, toosing his data-pad onto his desk. Reviewing the Cerberus dossiers again, Shepard decided on his own course of action. Cerberus wanted Shepard to recruit a Vorcha by the name of Nar'Vosa, a paranoid schizophrenic with a rapsheet light-years long. Shpard, however, had another candidate in mind. "Joker, set a course for Kahje." Shepard said as he reached the CIC, anxious to see the vids of the training excercises on Deck 5.

**_Kahje, Drell Dome 7, Sector 15, 2186_**

The vast underwater vistas of Kahje were a welcome change of pace from the bormal wide open skies of other worlds. Shepard smiled as a large, shark-like creature swam overhead. His sight-seeing VI informed him that it was a Harmonador, a larger version of earth's own whale shark. Shepard shifted his focus back to the streets of Drell Dome 7. He was on his way to meet an old friend.

"Commander Shepard, this one would like to extend salutations to you. Welcome to Kahje." A hanar said, raising a tentacle in a friendly waving gesture. Shepard returned the greeting.

"Thank you," he said. "This one humbly accepts your greeting." Shepard then attempted a polite bowing gesture, and then nodded in a nonverbal good-bye before continuing on his path. Turning at the next intersection, Shepard's attention was brought to the large tower-like structure roughly half a mile in front of him. The sign read "Place of Great Healing", which Shepard could only interpret as being the Hospital Thane was housed in. Smiling, Shepard strode towards the hospital with confidence, glad to finally pay his old friend the visit he promised. As he approached the Hospital, more hanar greeted him in their impossibley polite manner.

"This one bids you fair welcome to Kahje, human. It desires you have a pleasant stay." one of the greeters said, Shepard's translator interpretting the hanar's bio-lumiscent communication into audible speech. The falw of this method is that it makes all hanar sound the same. After walking through another sea of greeting hanar, Commander Shepard finally reached the hospital.

" This one requests to visit with Thane Krios, please." Shepard said, keepin his tone as friendly as possible. The hanar clerk motioned for a drell worker to escort Shepard.

"Greetings. My name is Falwen. Follow me, Commander." the drell said in the species usually gravelly voice. She then proceeded to walk down the corridor until she reached a room labeled "LaHosa patients" and motioned Shepard inside. The room was divided into a dozen life support tents, each the size of a comfortabley small apartment. Falwen guided Shepard through the maze until they reached Thane's ten. "Here we are, sir." Falwen said politely, pulling back the flap on Thane's tent. Falwen then walked out of the room and back to the front desk to greet more visitors.

Shepard sighed, shaking his head from side to side. What he was about to do was going to be difficult. Shrugging off any doubt or hesitation, Shepard cycle the airlock for Thane's tent. On the other side, a wall of incredibly dry air hit Shepard.

"John? What a surprise." Thane said as the Commander stepped into the tent, already activating his helmet's rebreather. The aridity was far beyond the human comfort zone.

"Yeah, well, I did say I'd visit you." Shepard replied, shaking his head to clear the minor disorientation of his helmet re-pressurizing. Thane smiled, happy to see his old friend. "So, how was your birthday?"

"Uneventful. Kolyat came to stay with me a couple of days before. And I still haven't gotten my new lungs yet." Thane explained, sighing at the mention of the incredibly expensive LaHosa procedure. The procedure would give Thane a new set of prosthetic lungs to replace his damged old ones. There was a treatment medication, but Thane's case was too far advanced for that kind of treatment. Kolyat walked into the room a couple minutes later.

"Commander Shepard? What brings you here?" Kolyat asked, eye ridges raised in a curious expression. Shepard's nervous system fired randomly, sending nervousness rippling throughout his body. He shook slightly, but enough for the two drell to see it. "What's wrong?" Both said simultaneously.

"You mean you haven't heard? We're going to war." Shepard replied, an awkward calm in his voice. He feared the worst, becaus now the galaxy not only had the Reapers looming on the horizon, it also had a full scal war brewing right in the middle of things. The Covenant, the instigators of this new war, were a completely unknown enemy with technology far beyond that of the Citadel races, even beyond that of all the known galaxy. To make matters worse, they were extremely Xeenophobic, having vaporized a human colony with no provocation, even going far enough to attack the escaping transports, and they also had an unprecedented military force, with starships far beyond the size limitations of Citadel starships. The Human Systtems alliance didn't even have ships with such tonnage. Shepard;s mind shook with worry.

"War? With who? And for what reason?" Thane asked, concern heavy in his tone.

"Thane, Kolyat, I've got alot to fill you in on." Sheepard said, taking a seat and resting his head in his hand while trying to comps his thoughts. Shepard spent the nxt hour explaining the nw state of turmoil that the galaxy was in, ending th discussion with he one thing he hated to ask of Thane. "I need Kolyat to come with me on this one, Thane. You're in too bad of shape to acompany me, but I'll see to it that he's looked after properly." Shepard said, noting the pensive look on Thane's face. Thane put both hands together, as if he were praying, and then closed his eyes. Kolyat spoke out, stepping forward in a confident matter.

"I will go with you, Shepard. Saving the galaxy is something that my father would galdly do, if his body would let him." Kolyat said, gesturing at his father, who was deep in some sort of prayer. Shepard nodded in understanding.

"The shuttle's in drop bay 24. Meet me there by tomorrow at the latest. Bring all of your gear. The Normandy leaves for Omega in two days." Shepard said, bidding the Krios' a short farewell before making his way back to the Normandy.


	11. New Frontiers

_**Omega Station, 2186**_

Shouts of pain echoed throughout the streets of Omega, indicative of a fight somewhere. Kolyat cracked his knuckles, grinning ear-hole to ear-hole, and delivered another punch to the turian's face. "Tell me where you got them, NOW!" he yelled, slamming the informant into a wall. Shepard watched carefully as Kolyat played the bad cop.

He raised a hand, signaling Kolyat to stop. Reluctantly, Kolyat released the informant and walked back towards Shepard. "Now, would you kindly tell us where you got these plasma weapons? Or would you like to have another 'chat' with my friend?" Shepard inquired, gesturing back to Kolyat, who was anxiously awaiting his turn at the interrogation.

"Fuck you, human. The Covenant will have my scales if I tell you that." The turian said, spitting blue-green blood onto the ground. He then flexed his mandibles, checking to see if anything was broken. They had been trying to extract information from this particular turian, an arms dealer named Kiric, for nearly three hours with no progress.

"I have to say, I admire your integrity, but sadly that isn't enough for me." Shepard said, loosing a sigh of disappointment. Omega had given him nothing in the way of leads, only loose-ends that desperately needed denouement. Shepard shifted his gaze to Kolyat, who sat waiting like a starved predator, desperate for a kill. "Do it." Shepard said calmly as he stood up. He stretched and walked back to the alley's entrance, unflinching as more pained screams filled the air.

Kolyat relished his kill, not even drawing a singles blade to speed up the process. The turian begged for his life, but all Kolyat did was laugh as his pained screams filled the air. Kolyat's punches landed with sickening, meaty smacks on the turian's body. You could hear the skin splitting, the bones breaking. It was a pain that almost hurt to think about. After another half hour of beating, Kolyat delivered one final juggernaut punch to the turian's face, a wet snap resounding through the alley as his neck broke from the force of the punch. Kolyat was finished.

Shepard sighed. Another lead lost. "Joker, prepare the Normandy for launch. We're leaving at 05:00. Shepard out." The Commander ordered over his radio. He had one last source on Omega, and after his recent exploits, Shepard knew that she'd be difficult to work with.

_**Club Afterlife, Omega, 2186**_

Aria T'Loak looked at Commander Shepard with angry eyes. "Commander, I gave you my one rule. And you seem to have forgotten it." The Asari crime lord said, her tone on the border between venomous and furious. Shepard sighed. He knew she'd be difficult to work with, but this had turned into suicide.

"Yeah, well, when the galaxy's at stake, I don't give a Vorcha's ass who I fuck with. So, I'll tell you again, do you know where your suppliers are getting Covenant Weapons?" Shepard asked, taking a serious risk by making demands of a pirate lord. Well, in this case, pirate queen.

"You don't tell me what to do, Commander, but I'll humor you nonetheless." Aria said, respecting Shepard's backbone, as the humans called it. She would have called it something more along the lines of stupid and risky. Then again, Aria liked risky, but had little tolerance for stupid. "My suppliers stole the weapons from a derelict ship on the edge of the Hawking Eta Cluster. I'll send the coordinates to you later. As for where the other idiots on my station are getting them, my best guess would be the Batarians. Considering the Covenant attacked a human colony, the Batarians are probably seeking out some kind of alliance with them." Aria finished, taking a sip from a glass filled with a glowing blue liquid. Shepard nodded in thanks, and turned to head for the Normandy. As he did so, Aria bid him farewell by saying, "I admire your bravery, Shepard. Don't do it again."

_**SSV Normandy, Hawking Eta Cluster, 2186**_

Joker danced his fingertips across the Normandy's flight controls, adjust vectors and thrust algorithms to suit their approach to the Covenant ship. Larger than a dreadnought by HAS and Citadel regulations, this vessel was the Covenant equivalent of a frigate. The image of a Covenant dreadnought still sent shockwaves through his mind. Twenty-seven kilometers in length, and able to carry an entire army's worth of troops. The thought of there being more than one sent chills through Joker's entire body. "ETA to vessel ninety-two minutes. Be prepared people, I've got a bad feeling about this." Joker announced, rolling his thumb over the "on" button for the ship's PA system. He rolled it back over to turn it off, switching on the inter-ship communicator. "Normandy to Einstein, asteroid field coming into view. Good place for an ambush. Advise you stay frosty." Joker called out, alerting the other ships accompanying the Normandy. Shepard requested another two frigates and an Assault Carrier for this mission. Admiral Hackett agreed, sending the best of the best with Shepard. The Council also sent one carrier from the Turian Hierarchy and two frigates, one from the Salarians and one from the Asari, with a full detachment of Asari commandos at Shepard's disposal. The Commander didn't want to take any chances.

"Joker, alter approach vector to zero-seven-two. Advise frigates to same vector." Shepard announced, reviewing the map of the system. Shepard's tactical analysis was unrivalled within the Alliance. He hoped his experience wouldn't fail him now. Scanning the map another three times, Shepard exhaled nervously, anticipating an ambush. It was something any enemy would do.

_**SSV Einstein, Hawking Eta Cluster, 2186**_

Captain Isaac Marlowe, CO of the _SSV Einstein_, sighed as he reached for his coffee. Neever before had his ship been requisitioned by the Council for some wild goose chase that would supposedly turn the tide against the Covenant. What they needed were bigger ships, bigger guns, and superior tactics. Humanity and the Council had all the desire in the world to stop the Covenant. They had the best engineers in the galaxy working up far-fetched countermeasures that wouldn't even fit in a sci-fi vid. Marlowe looked at his system map, typed a fw lines of code into a holo-console in front of him, and watched it shift into a TACMAP. Satisfied, he rolld his thumb over the refresh button to factor in any new sensor data. A few lines of code flashed through the top right corner of the display before the new readouts winked onto the TACMAP. Two new signatures, too hot to be asteroids or other forms of space debris. "Sparks, zoom in on heading zero-four-zero by factor six. Hold frame." Captain Marlowe ordered, Specialist Keenan Sparks keyed the command into his console, causing Captain Marlowe's TACMAP to respond accordingly. "Lieutenant Taggart, report." Marlowe ordered, wanting answers as to what the anomaly was.

"Scanners suggest a large amount of organics. Possiblity of small fighter craft. I advise we deploy a corvette to investigate." the Lieutenant said, eyes never once leaving his instruments. Marlowe sighed, crossing his arms. He didn't want to send a corvette out. It was too large and too loud for this kind of scout work. He scanned through his options metally for the next few minutes. Unable to reach a conclusion, Marlowe ordered th crew to standby.

"Crewmen, this is Captain Marlowe, prepare fighter squadrons for deployment. All crew to standby positions. Forward all reports to the Normandy." Marlowe ordered through the ships intercom. Marlowe looked down at his wrist, the antique watch still ticking away. Sighing, he wound the ancient timepiece and turned back to the TACMAP. "Hope our boys ar ready for an ambush."

**_Covenant Destroyer, Hawking Eta Cluster, 2186_**

"Arbiter, the drone hive is in position." The destroyer's Ship Master reported, kneeling at the larg and threatenig visage of the Arbiter Rylus Thal'Vedumee. He smiled, retracting his faceplate. The Ship Master looked up into his cold, soulless eyes and shivered. No Sangheili could be this monstrous. The Arbiter chuckled and turned to the ship's tactical display. The Defiler vessels with their insufficient armor and strange weapons approached the ruins of the other destroyer, a delicate trap laid by the Arbiter himself. Accompanying them were three ships belonging to a race calling themselves "Batarians" and sharing the Covenant's hatred of the Defilers, which they called humans. They had a Council that refused to aid them in some sort of dispute with the "humans" and have harboured an intense hatred ever since. Although they are ignorant to the glory of the Forerunner, the Batarians claimed to have never encountered any Relics of the Covenant's gods, but that did not matter to Mercy or to the Arbiter. The Batarians and the Covenant shared a common enemy, and that would suffice for now.

"Prepare the fighter craft. Send word to the rangers that their services will be needed. And take no chances. I want every last Defiler on those ships dead." The Arbiter ordered, his voice vicious ad blood-thirsty with the anticipation of battle. He activated his face plate as he left the bridge, satisfied that his trap was on the brink of triggering. He could feel th adrenaline entering his bloodstream from the sheer anticipation of battle. "Let this day bring forth victory for the glorious Covenant." the Arbiter said quietly, flexing his mandibles in preparation for the onslaught.

**_Hawking Eta Cluster_**

As the ships approached the mass of drones scattered throughout the asteroid field, the large insectoid monsters twitched with anticipation. They watch anxiously as the larger vessels deployed the single-person fighter craft necessary for proper ship-to-ship combat. The drones looked at them as though they were a kind of canned meat, savoring the moment they break the pressure sals on the fighters and pull the scraming pilots out into the hungry jaws of a starving death. When the ships reached the middle of the field, the drones sprang into action, activating ther zero-g packs and flying erratically towards the fighters in a mad dash for the canned food.

Flight Lieutenant James McGill stared into the vacuum of space, shock still rippling across his face. Sure, flight training and combat sims had shown him what it was like to fight other _ships_, but nothing had prepared him to fight a bunch of giant bugs flying through an asteroid field. And nothing would hav prepared him for the overwhelming odds he was up against. McGill took evasive maneuvers as the bugs drew in around his fighter, looping and doing barrel rolls to try and break their pursuit to no avail. The bugs sttill drew closer, mimicking his movements with precision and grace far beyond the capacities of any fighter craft in existence. Three of the drones latched onto his fighter, using their claws and weak mag-locks to adhere to it's surface. MGill attempted to shake them off by flying through a tightly packed debris field, only to have the space rocks bounce harmlessly off his kinetic barriers. "Fuck!" MicGill yelled, two more drones landing on his fighter. As the bugs crawled closer to the flight cage of his fighter, he frantically sarched for the fighter's self-destruct. "Got it." he yelled, relieving some of the tension buidling up insinde the cockpit. Instead, he found the eject button. As his fighter's canopy blasted into space and his seat rocketed into the ocean of starving insects, the last thought on MicGill's mind was, word for word, "I'm fucked."

"Holy shit! Did you just see that!" one of the other pilots yelled. The squadrons had become frenzied from the tactics of the drones. To make matter worse, a Covenant Destroyer, two Batarian Frigates, and one Batarian Dreadnought had entered the fray. Pilots franrically zipped through debris fields, dodging volleys of plasma and mass-accelerator rounds as they continued to dogfight with the drone hive with little success. Two more pilots met grizzly ends at the insectoid hand of the drones, their suits ripped open and the pilots eaten as though they were a well preserved meal. The Turian carrier sent aothr three squadrons of fighters into the swarm, accompanied by large volleys of anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. The explosions rockeed through the drones swarm, although it did little to curb the slaughter that the drones were unleashing on the fighter craft.

The Turian ship commander flexed his mandibles in anger. The Covenant had set a trap, and they were helpless to stop them. "Deploy the FENRIS." he yelled, slamming his fist on the release mechanism for the nuclar device. "Forward to all vessels, raise EMP shields. FENRIS warhead active." the Turian Commander yelled. The fighters in the massive swarm of drones raised their emergency shielding in preparation for the blast. The drones themselves continued to assault the fighters as though nothing were happening. As thee missiles launched, carrying the FENRIS warhead into the swarm of drones, more pilots continued to become meals for the starving insects. The warhead flashed red warning lights bfore detonating, sending roughly 1/12 of the drone hive to its end.

The Destroyer and its vanguard jumped into the middle of the asteroid field, signalling the drones to swarm around it in a defensive pattern. Two squadrons of shuttle craft deployed on a heading to intercept the destroyer. It was Commander Shepard's boarding party. "Alright boys, you've got your orders. Get in, plant the Shaw bomb, annd then get the hell out of there." Shepard repated over his comm, relaying the message to RED and Noble Teams. Blue Team would accompany them into the ship along with the Asari Commandos, Turian Rangers, and Shepard's own strike team. It was the best plan they had. Once they get inside, they'd plant a detonator on the ship's slip-space drive, and detonate it from a safe distance. The resulting blast would, hopefully, send the small Covenant force into the jaws of oblivion. Shepard kept a srious expression. This operation couldn't afford any delays, any slip-ups, or any miscalculations. If there as a single hith in the plan, it could cost them everything. "Alright, going in hot!" Shepard yelled, disegaging th lock on the Kodiak shuttle. He and the Bullfrogs ntered a highly controlled freefall, their target zone a shield dome on top of the Destroyer. Miss it, and the team enters an endless fall through the vacuum of space, probalby to be devoured by the drone swarm surrounding them. Land, and they hav to deal with the troops on board the vessel, all probably highly trained in the repelling of boarders. The nemy had the advantage here, and the odds were staked against Shepard's team. Luckily for him, the Spartans excel in bad odds.

"RED Team landed, sir. Approaching dome." Jerome said, voice distorted by the communicator. Shepard responded by flashing his affirmation light green twice, thn amber twice, the signal for "I hear you". Noble Team landed shortly after RED Team, and BLUE Team landed with the Asari. The Turians landed with Noble and RED Team. Lights flashed green across Shepard's HUD. He smiled, raising his assault rifle to the ready stance. "Alright teams, move in!" he yelled, leading a charge of vengeful soldiers into the very mouth of Hell itself. There was no better fight in the galaxy.


	12. Turning Points

_**Hawking Eta Cluster**_

Lilius Hiraxen, the commander of the turian carrier _Shield of Palaven, _anxiously tapped his talons on the CIC's railing. He was waiting for another pass at the Batarian frigate that had been pelting him with Anti-ship torpedoes for the past fifteen minutes. "Your gambit had better pay off, Shepard." He said, a slight growl following his comment. Reaching for his mug of turian coffee, a drink far too strong for any human to handle, the commander tapped out a few commands on his TACMAP before downing half of the mug, scalding a good portion of his mouth.

"Sir, Batarian fighters inbound. Course of action?" one of the crewmen yelled, frantically slamming keys and typing out line of preparation codes. The Commander looked back at him with an angry "you know what to do" look that sent chills throughout the crewman's body. "Roger sir, adjusting GARDIAN algorithms." the crewman replied, nervously typing long code sequences into his terminal. The other crewmen aboard the cruiser rushed around performing their various combat duties with a strict and well trained discipline.

The Commander pulled himself back to his TACMAP as two volleys of torpedoes detonated just short of the carrier's hull. "Deploy all interceptors and fighter craft. If they want war, they've got war." The Commander yelled, slamming his fist on the console. Another round of shckwaves rock the carrier as another wave of Batarian and Covenant fighters passed by, deploying anti-ship weaponry that would sturggle to make it past the GARDIAN systems on the carrier. Commander Hiraxen looked at his TACMAP, almost grinning when he saw the Salarian Frigate _Shadowfoot _deploying a HORNET minefield, preparing a trap for the overwhelming Covenant forces. Two sawrms of drones and a squadron of Batarian fighters disintegrated as a section of the mine field was tripped, eliciting cheers from both the Salarians and the Turians.

Two more squadrons of Covenant and Batarian fighter craft wer lost n the minefield before the Salarians intiated the HORNETs most devious feature, the repulsor array. Immediately, the mines scattered throughout the asteroid field, shocking Covenant troopers as a nuclear mine suddenly rushed into the line of sight before detonating, sending dozens of fighters to their doom. Smiling, the Turian commander sent his thanks to the Salarians. The tide had finally turned.

_**Covenant Destroyer**_

Shepard gave his troops the "move up" gesture as Sangheili rangers poured out of the shield dome at midpoint of the large vessel. Drone swarms also peppered the hull with bolts of hot plasma and attempted to carry off some of Shepard strike force with little success. "Get off me, you exo-skeletal bastard!" Pvt. Karlyle yelled as one of the drones tackled him to the ground, attempting to pierce the vacuum seals on his hardsuit with little success. Karlyle drew his combat knife and slashed at the drones, crushing exo-skeleton and tearing into the meat underneath. The drone squealed silently, the vacuum preventing the screech from being heard. The other drone panicked, throwing Karlyle into a slow freefall. Seizing the opportunity, Karlyle fired a burst from his rifle, tearing through the drone and sending insect parts venting into space. Karlyle ignited his thrusters just in time to soften his landing. Facing forward, Karlyle saw the hulking figures of Sangheili in Hardsuits jetting towards his squad. "Uh, Commander? Advise?" Karlyle said over his comm. His answer came in the form of three red flashes, the "open fire" signal. Obeying almost dogmatically, Karlyle activated his warp rounds and ripped into the Sangheili rangers' shields, smiling when his VISR detected breaches in their hardsuits.

Kolyat lead a blind charge into the heart of the Sangheili defense force, rupturing air-supplies with his molecular-edged knives and smiling as the pressurized air vented from the Sangheili hardsuits. He was at home in this warzone. Rolling to avoid bolts of charged plasma, Kolyat drew out his personal favorites, the Ulak blades, and sliced through the Sangheili rangers like fangs through fresh meat. The Drell assassin laughed, a low gravelly rumble that would have normally sent chills down his opponents spines. But the Sangheili rangers continued to charge Kolyat, foolishly thinking that he could be taken down.

Two more tried to take him down, only to have their jetpacks' fuel-lines sliced through. Kolyat finished them with two biotic throws, sending them flying into the void. Turning back to th fight before him, Kolyat charged intto the shield dome, drawing both of his Shuriken burst pistols, ripping into the warrioirs with his shredder rounds. Satisfied by the swath he had cut through the enemy lines, he sent Shepard the "all-clear" signal, and then proceeded to lay defensive measures.

The Arbiter had finally found a worthy opponent. A warrior skilled enough to prove challenging even to the monster he had become. He smiled, drawing his energy sword, its handle ornate with a lustered handguard. Blue light flashed through the room as the blade ignited, alerting Kolyat to th Arbiter's presence. "You have proven worthy of my time, Defiler. May you die with honor." The Arbiter called out, uncaring as to whether or not Kolyat could understand him. His bloodthirst increased as Kolyat gave him the universal symbol for "bring it on." Roaring as he charged the Drell Assassin, the Arbiter had entered the fight of his life.

BLUE Team and the Asari Commandos had little trouble on their way to the dome, effortlessly cutting down the Sangheili rangers that opposed them. John-117 lead the charge, with Kelly, Linda, Fred, and Will close behind. The Asari had taken the right flank to minimize enemy resistance. John smirked as two squads of rangers landed in fron of them, a swarm of drones close behind. "Squad, OPEN FIRE!" John yelled, signalling for the squad to continue moving forward. SPARTANs never back down from a fight. John-117 threw two disc grenades at the Sangheili rangers, scattering them upon detonation. Two shots raced past John, the source none other than Linda. "Thanks SPARTAN." John said, giving her a quick SPARTAN salute before moving up to another squad of rangers. The commandos sent them flying into the void with an eruption of raw biotic power, while Kelly and Linda disabled their jetpacks. John nodded approvingly at the Asari's tactics, and made his way to the stern of the ship, planting the breaching charges he'd need to bypass the shield dome.

Noble Team fought valiantly with RED Team, sending hundreds of drones and dozens of Sangheili to early graves. Emile used his biotic abilities to brutally massacre the opposition, while Jorge gave fire support with his GOLIATH mini-gun. Carter and Kat lead the charge into the shield dome, with Jun and Six filling the roles of rear-guard, rapidly eliminating small swarms of drones as they attempted to carry of allied troopers. Six cycled the heat sinks in his rifle, smiling as another two rangers met quick ends at the hands of Jun. Six sighted two more rangers approaching them. Instinctively sighting the monsters, Noble Six ripped into them, shattering their helmets and laughing as precious air vented into the vacuum of space. The two rangers collapsed, dead. Jun smiled.

"Nice shooting, Six." he said, sighting a group of drones making a pass at Shepard's team. Before he could even blink, Six dropped two of the drones while Jun caused another two to explode, sending clouds of rapidly freezing blood drifting through the void. The two Spartans smiled, satisfied with the fight they were in. It was their kind of payback.

RED Team continued to flank the forces while providing fire support to Noble Team. Jerome and his squad were outfitted with the heaviest assault gear they could requisition, each one of the titanic supersoldiers carrying the deadly SPARTAN Laser, basically a cut down and man portable GARDIAN laser, and smiled as the beams of concentrated energy punched thorugh the enemies' shields and explosively vaporized flesh and armor. Alice was content with the modified Revenant LMG she had been given, relishing the raw power of the weapon as it perforated her targets. Douglas simply enjoyed the fight, regardless of his weapons.

A true Spartan, Douglas multi-tasked by operating the SPARTAN Laser in one hand, and a Tempest SMG in the other. Carbing a path of destruction across the hull of the destroyer, RED Team arrived at their entry point, preparing their breaching charges for a high explosive entry. Smiling as the air vented out of the ship, RED Team rapidly infiltrated the destroyer before the breach sealed itself.

Kolyat landed two blows on the Arbiter before his beefed up kinetic barriers took the blunt of his energy sword. "Got to have me one of those." Kolyat said as the fight continued, his eyes focusing on the hulking form of the Arbiter. A truly menacing opponent, under better circumstances, Kolyat might actually be afraid of him. But currently, the intense combat had turned Kolyat into an ocean of adrenaline, and he was fully prepared for a fight to the death with the Arbiter. No running, no hiding, just fighting. Kolyat's eyes blazed behind his visor, adrenaline lighting an uncontrollable rage within him.

Fueled by the extreme factors surrounding him, Kolyat charged the Arbiter again, knives sparking as they impacted his armor, leaving almost invisible marks on the ceremonial appearance of the alien armor. Kolyat swore to himself as the Arbiter made another pass, energy blade barely missing him. Kolyat spun to gain distance when another Sangheili, this one in gold, swung at Kolyat with a strange looking curved sword.

"Bastard! How dare you intercede in my battle!" Kolyat hard the Arbiter roar. Suddenly, the gold Sangheili dropped to the ground, a obejct resembling an axe protruding from his skull. Kolyat grabbed both weapons and charged the Arbiter again, satisfied by the crushing blow that the axe landed against his armor, leaving a visible scar on the surface. The Arbiter roared and swung for Kolyat again, grazing him with the plasma blade. Kolyat swore as his suit rupture alarm sound within his helmet. He had five minutes to seal it or he would suffocate.

"Now things get intresting." Kolyat said, readying the curveblade as the Arbiter charged again, a fierce roar filling the room as the beast of a warrior charge Kolyat. Smiling, Kolyat braced himself for the attack, ready to humiliate the behemoth at his own game.

"Die!" The Arbiter roared as he charged Kolyat, sword angled in an attempt to impale him. Kolyat side-stepped and brought the curve-blade into the Arbiter's side, eliciting a roar of anger as the Arbiter's blood sucked out of the resulting suit breach. Snarling like a lion, the Arbiter grappled Kolyat. "Defiler, you die here!" he growled into Kolyat's face, jaws flaring in a primal snarl that was fueled purely by the Arbiter's rage.

"I'm ready, how 'bout you?" Kolyat said, smiling beneath his helmet, his voice smug and arrogant. The Arbiter snarled again, pulling his blade back, preparing for the kill.

"I will enjoy killing you." he said, respecting the assassins acceptance of his fate. He cocked his arm back, preparing to slide his blade forward to deliver the final blow.

"Die motherfucker!" Kolyat yelled as he brought his wrist-blade into the Arbiter's face. The monstrous Sangheili roared in pain and dropped Kolyat as he staggered back. Purple blood poured out of his face-mask. Suddenly, the timer on Kolyat's suit reset itself, alerting him that the room's pressure seals had activated. The Arbiter roared again as his face-plate slid back, revealing the angered and horrific face of the Sangheili.

The Arbiter had no words, only anger. Anger that the Defiler that stood before him had outsmarted him with his coward's tactics. A spring-loaded blade hidden inside of a wrist gauntlet was a coward's weapon, for a true warrior does not need to hide his weapons. The Arbiter snarled, blood dripping down his face. He looked into Kolyat's face, ready to end the brawl. He charged, not realizing nor caring for the rapid drop in blood pressure he had experinced. Mid-charge, the Arbiter collapsed, unconscious from bloodloss.

"Is that...the best...you got?" Kolyat panted, dropping to his knees, exhausted. Despite the current state of the Arbiter, Kolyat was worse off. Severe burns, severe fractured and broken bones, and bloodloss were beginning to take their toll on Kolyat. "Shepard, all-clear. Send Evac. I took down one of theirs." Kolyat radioed just before collapsing, his endurance caving in due to the shut-off of his adrenal glands. Barely consious, Kolyat clung to his victory, however fleeting, over the Sangheili warrior.

"Roger. Sending shuttle craft." Shepard replied. His strike team had entered the shield dome, and were preparing their bomb. "Jennings, ready the detonator. T'Kilai, watch our exit." Shepard ordered. The operation had proven successful, with the detonation device rigged to ship. Shepard smiled as the timer appeared, three hours until detonation. Plenty of time to rig the ship to be sent back to its owners. "Ready the shuttles. We're oscar mike."

**_Covenant fleet, Unknown Space_**

The Covenant Fleet Master Tark Ral'omee smiled as the destroyer returned with its Batarian entourage. "Inform the Prophet of the destroyer's return. Tell him-" the Fleet Master's voice trailed off as he saw the small grouping of ships erupt into a violent display of tactical genius. The ships had been devoured by a massive detonation of the destroyer's slipspace drive. A brilliant light flashed through the void encompassing the small fleet, ripping a whole in the very fabric of the universe and sending the ships caught within the detonation cascading into the jaws of oblivion, and tearing the very atoms that comprise their being into shreds not even fit to be called dust. As the blinding light cleared, only scattered remnants of the ships caught in the blast radius remained.

The Fleet Master's multi-hinged jaw went slack, shock and awe having ceased all mental capacities within him. Tark Ral'omee stood on the bridge of the _Pensive Voyager_ in shock. Never before had the Covenant lost a ship to such an inferior race. Shock turning to rage, the Fleet Master slammed his fists into the holo-consoles before him, causing random data to be scattered across the dislays. "Inform the Prophet. Our honor must be vindicated." the Fleet Master roared, striking fear into his crewmen.

**_SSV Normandy, Shepard's Wolf-Pack, 2186_**

Kolyat sat motionless on the medical table, his body still recovering from the shock and bloodloss. It had been a full two days since his fight with the Arbiter who, according to reports, had somehow miraculously survived the massive slipspace detonation that had destroyed a small portion of the Covenant fleet. Shepard had attempted to wake Kolyat four times since the end of the battle to no avail. The Drell just sat there, on the brink of conciousness. Shepard had began to wonder if Kolyat would ever wake up.

"Come on John, he'll be okay." Tali said, attempting to comfort her love. Shepard sat and looked at Kolyat again, letting out a loud sigh.

"Tali, you don't understand. Thane's lost so much. If Kolyat dies, I'll never be able to forgive myself." Shepard said, voice full of sincerity. He had never liked the thought of taking Thane's only child into the heart of a war that no one had any certainty in. No one knew whether or not the Galaxy would remain a safe place after seeing what had happened not just to Harvest, but to multiple colonies of multiple Citadel species. Xahlios Prime, Gorot-II, even an Asari farm world. The Covenant didn't care. At least a dozen worlds, hospitable or not, had already been glassed by the extremist group. Shepard felt the weight of the whole galaxy resting on his shoulders, and it was beginning to get to him.

"Shepard, I might not know how you feel, but the least you can do is let me try and help." Tali said, resting her hands on his shoulders empathetically. Shepard sighed again.

"Tali, I don't know how you could help me now. I've got the whole galaxy depending on me, and I'm starting to have doubts." Shepard said, sorrow weaving its way into his voice. His eyes started to gather faint amounts of water. The Commander was doubting himself for the first time since Mindoir. He was doubting whether or not he'd be able to do it.

"John, I know you. If anyone can save the galaxy, it's you. You've done it twice before, and you can do it now. All you have to do is believe. I now that sounds like an old human vid cliche, but it's true." Tali said, leaning down to kiss Shepard on the cheek. Shepard shed a single tear before he got up to follow Tali out of the medical bay.

"...Shepard..." a voice called out from behind him. The Commander spun around to see the faint shimmer in Kolyat's eyes. Shepard's spirit's were almost immediately lifted. "...Did I...Did I win?" Kolyat struggled to say, soreness and pain consuming his body. Shepard grinned and called back to him.

"Yeah, you won. Now the real fun starts."

* * *

**AN: **Sorry for uploading this and then pulling it, but I just had to do it. Pack more details into the battle.

Okay then, it's time for the next vote!

Should Shepard go to the Krogan homeworld to ask Wrex for support, or should he go to the Geth for help? Leave your answers in the reviews section. Thanks guys!


	13. Harvest Time

_****LOCATION UNKNOWN****_

The parasite watched patiently as the large machine-like monsters eased closer to the galactic rim. The Gravemind of the Flood had been awaiting this opportunity for quite some time. The ancient ones had finally returned. The parasitic spore that was being used as the Gravemind's eyes began to vibrate, and then ruptured into thousands of fleshy particles that easily scattered with the solar wind. A signal resounded directly into the Gravemind, sending chills down his monstrous form. "We are coming." the signal called. Gravemind smiled, his form swelling with anticipation. He roared with some form of joy at the return of the Reapers, the heralds of galactic salvation. His massive form shook with the anticipation of the unity their arrival would bring. His plans and dreams would finally come into fruition.

"Children of the Flood, our day has come!" Gravemind roared, alerting all of the lesser forms to his awakening. They all turned as if to listen intently. "We are on the verge of a Galactic union! The day of our victory, of ultimate unity, and of universal peace is upon us!" the mighty parasite bellowed, sending his speech throughout the collective mind of the Flood. The forms below him shook as if hungry. Infection forms leaked acidic fluids onto the surface of Gravemind's antechamber as if to salivate. The Flood were hungry. Gravemind roared victoriously, opening the ceiling of his antechamber. With new found confidence, he released the Flood onto the surface of the unsuspecting planet known only as Zeiphos Prime. Soon the whole galaxy would become joined to him. Soon, he would have ultimate power.

_**Beyond Galactic Rim, 2186**_

The Reaper swarm approached the helpless Milky Way Galaxy, their systematic purge about to begin. Harbinger, and Sovereign before him, had warned the one called 'Shepard' that resistance is futile. The galaxy will be cleansed. For reasons none would be able to comprehend, the technology of the galaxy must be harvested. The Protheans had dubbed them "Reapers", not because of any supernatural belief in a face of death, but because it is what they did. The machines reaped the harvest of the galaxy once every 50,000 years. This cycle would be no different. This cycle would not be stopped.

"We are not the death of civilization, but by us the galaxy is saved. We are the salvation of its people, the cultivators of the galactic fields. Through us, all will be saved!" Harbinger called out to his brethren, exciting the swarm. "Soon, all shall become one." The ancient machine said. Harbinger's mechanical eyes stared into the very depths of the galaxy, as if it were attempting to glean some wisdom or send some foreboding message to the beings they sought to uplift. "We are coming for you. The Reapers are your salvation, now and forever." Harbinger called out, flooding the galaxy with its message. They were coming, and they could not be stopped.

_**Cerberus Command, 2186**_

The Illusive Man shuddered as the message played through his comm channel, a channel he had thought secure. "We are coming." A message so foreboding that it sent chills down his spine. All his worst-case scenarios and battle plans had anticipated this very moment, but suddenly the whole thing seemed surreal, as if it were all just a bad dream. The Illusive Man rubbed his hand over his plain, unassuming face. Silently, he tapped several keys on various panels and forwarded the message to Shepard. While not a believer in any particular faith, he silently asked that if there were any being watching over them, now is a good time to help.

_**Shepard's Wolf Pack, Unknown Planet, Geth Space, 2187**_

Commander Shepard waited anxiously for the Geth Platforms standing infront of him to reach consensus, a kind of agreement all Geth had to make in order to function. From simple trooper platforms to the hulking Clossus Platforms, all Geth much reach consensus before they can do anything. The three platforms before Shepard were specially constructed to translate the immense multitude of the Gestalt to him. The Gestalt, otherwise known as the Geth Collective, took the form of a panel of nine platforms capable of holding over ten-thousand Geth profiles each, and also were able to contact the Geth in their entirety. This is what they were doing now. Legion, who was able to guarantee Shepard and his flotilla safe passage beyond the Perseus Veil, explained that this process should not take longer than three galactic standard hours, or roughly five Earth hours. Shepard sat down as the Gestalt continued to deliberate, their Platforms standing idley as they silently communicated. "Commander, Geth think at the speed of light. For us to take this long on a decision is usually a good sign. It means we are weighing our options." Legion said, attempting to explain to Shepard the process of consensus. Legion had honestly never seem the Gestalt take so long to reach consensus, even though there were millions of Geth in the veil alone, excluding the 'Heretic' Geth that displayed violent tendencies toward organics. Finally, the platforms of the Gestalt lit up (literally) and shifted their gaze to Shepard. One by one, the Platforms kneeled and began to speak in unison. "Shepard. The Geth Gestalt has reached consensus. After careful deliberation and consultation, the Geth have ageed to give you our full support. Use it wisely, Commander, as it will dictate our future relationship with the Galactic community." After they finished speaking, the Gestalt plaftorms stood andshifted their gaze upward. "The Gestalt has adjourned its meeting. We bid you farewell." they called out. Then the platforms curled up and deactivated one by one in a dramatic fashion.

Shepard smiled. He had done the impossible. He had single handedly one over an entire race to his cause, in under twenty four hours. Shepard turned and faced his crew. They were all astonished. "Shepard Commander, the Gestalt has sent a Geth Dropship and a Dreadnought to join your Flotilla. They express their thanks for giving them the opportunity to fight against The Old Machines." Legion said. Shepard's smile got even bigger at the mention of Dreadnought. Shepard's flotilla was becoming a force to be reckoned with. "Now, time to call on an old friend." Shepard said as the Normandy disembarked. "Joker, plot a course for the Krogan DMZ. We're going to Tuchanka."


	14. Chapter 14

_**Tuchanka, Clan Urdnot Camp, 2187**_

Commander Shepard marched boldly through the camp of Tuchanka's chief clan. The members of Clan Urdnot stared menacingly at the human, as though he were not welcome. These were the young and restless tribesmen. The elders, however, gave Shepard looks of honor and respect, something that is rare among humans. The Commander smirked as he reached the Clan Chief's throne. An old friend stared down at him, a wild toothy grin spreading across his face. "Shepard! You return." Urdnot Wrex half-yelled from his ruined seat of power.

"Yes, old friend." Shepard said, not showing as much as a hint of weakness or vulnerability. Wrex's old eyes looked him over, as if looking for something.

"Where is Urdnot Grunt?" he inquired, eyes locking with Shepard's in a menacing manner.

Shepard cleared his throat as he began to speak. "He chose to remain on the Normandy. He's sparing with some of the new crewmen."

"Ah, I see. Tell him that his Clan wishes him well. Good warriors are hard to come by." Wrex said. He reached for a drink, most likely some Krogan concoction that would destroy a human's insides. "Shepard, I know you. Reminiscent chats and nostalgia aren't up your alley. So, now the all important question arises." Wrex paused to take another drink from his flask. Shepard saw droplets of bright red fluid wash over his lips. "Why are you here?" Wrex asked.

Shepard straightened his spine and spoke loudly, so that other Krogan might hear. "As you know, the galaxy is in the midst of war. A new enemy, the Covenant, has appeared on our horizon. The Council and, ultimately, the galaxy face annihilation at the hands of these xenophobic monsters." Shepard explained, appealing to the Krogan bloodthirst. It appeared to be working. "The Covenant possess technology far beyond our own. To make matters worse, the Reaper fleet has been sighted in the far reaches of the galaxy." He continued, a small crowd having gathered around him. "I have come here today, on behalf of the galaxy, to ask for your aide in the coming battle. We need your help. We cannot win this fight alone." Shepard finished. The Krogan gathered around him roared with bloodlust at the mention of the upcoming battle. They face impossible odds, and Shepard knew that would appeal to them.

Urdnot Wrex looked at Shepard with wise and hungry eyes. Without even so much as a word, Shepard knew he had their support. Wrex nodded, motioning for a number of warriors to cheer. "Inform the council. We will have our forces gathered within the month."

_**SSV Normandy, Shepard's Wolf-Pack, Citadel Space, 2187**_

Tali woke to the sound of computer keys tapping furiously. Shw sat up and looked at Shepard, who was busy typing something on his terminal. "John, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing…Just sending reports to the Citadel and Alliance command." Shepard replied, not missing a beat in his typing. He had been typing his information for the last hour.

"John, couldn't this wait? You've hardly paid any attention to me." Tali said, slightly annoyed, "And I could use a little attention."

Shepard sighed as he hit the last key. "And…Send." he whispered. Swiveling his chair around, he looked Tali dead in the eyes. She stared back at him, and then made a suggestive expression.

"Well?" She said, making Shepard grin.

"Again, Tali?" He asked, voice light with sarcasm. Smile still wide on his face, Shepard walked over to the bed and, after a vigorous 'workout', fell back into a deep sleep with Tali held tightly in his arms. For a brief moment, all felt right in the Galaxy.

**_Three hours later..._**

Shepard's eyes slowly slid open as he awoke, his vision still blurry. _Only three hours_, he thought as he looked at his clock. He carefully slid away from Tali's still sleeping body and walked to the bathroom, gaze drifting back to her as the door slid shut. After a brief shower and change of clothes, Shepard stepped back into his quarters. Tali now sat up on the bed, her enviro-suit still in a mishapen pile on the floor. "John, where are you going?" She asked, stifling a yawn as she stretched. Shepard rubbed his towel against his head in an effort to dry his still wet hair.

"To the mess. Want anything?" he replied, tossing the towel into an obscure corner of the room.

Tali rolled her eyes and reached for her suit. "No, haven't been able to eat right lately. Not sure why." she said. Shepard shrugged and walked into the elevator as Tali finshed sealing her suit. As the elevator reached its destination, Shepard was greeted by Dervish.

"Commander, I have something very important to dicsuss with you." he said, eyes locked to his omni-tool. Dervish was deep in some kind of tedious work, yet he was somehow able to guide himself through the pleasantries of a normal life. As they walked over to a table, Dervish dodged two groups of crewmen and sat down, all while furiously scanning through information on his omni-tool.

"How do you do that?" Shepard asked, absolutely baffled at how he managed to do these things.

"Years of practice." Dervish said, finally de-activating his omni-tool. His eyes were bloodshot. It was obvious that the man had very little sleep. Shepard inquired, but all Dervish would say was "I got enough."

Shepard sighed and looked down at his plate. Gardner's special breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausage. The works. Gardner smiled from his corner of the mess hall, obviously impressed with the reactions garnered by his latest meal. "Glad you like it, boss." he whispered.

"Commander, incoming transmission..." Joker's voice trailed off as the signal played through his headset. "Commander...I...I..." Joker began to stutter from the shock of what he was hearing. _Not Earth,_ he thought, _Not Earth_. Shepard played the recording through his omni-tool. The SPARTANs below deck heard through the intercom. Earth had fallen. The Reapers now held the center of humanity. Its origin point. Nothing could possibly send morale any lower.

"Joker, plot a course for the Citadel. This war ends now!"

**_Unknown space, 2187_**

Deep within the confines of the structure, ancient mechanisms had activated, setting in motion the long process of Reclamation. Sentinels flew overhead, and the lone moniter activated several holo-panels, ending with a secquence of locator beacons. Ever since the Old Machines had been detected inside the galactic rim, the stations automated systems had re-activated all the fital functions. Weapons, life supports, and containment protocols have all been put into effect. The arrival of Reclaimers, fortold in their programming for millenia, is finally upon them. The ancient programs and constructs of the Forerunner darted helter skelter throughout the Ring, preparing it for whatever may be recquired. Nazaran Contigency, Flood Protocol, Preparation-31...Any outcome the Forerunner had forseen. The moniter activated the final secquence of panels and preparation systems before it could assume the waiting stance. "Soon, my masters preparations shall come to fruition." The monitor sang quietly as it assumed its standby mode. Sleep was now upon it, as well as the whole of the Ring, absent save for indigenous lifeforms. All the preparations they had made, however, could not have prepared them for this.

**_To Be Continued..._**

* * *

**AN: **Thanks for staying so faithful to the story. However, because of time constraints, it may be a while before I post again. However, as far as this story goes...Well, thank you all for reading.

Also, if you want more, I will be making a sequel soon, so be patient. Anyways, thank you to all of you faithful readers out there! See you all next-time in **Mass Effect: Fall of Sorrows**


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